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Crews in the south of France were battling wildfires Saturday that had consumed more than 22,000 acres and prompted the evacuation of 12,000 people, local authorities said.The wildfires are among dozens across Europe, driven by a heat wave that has gripped parts of the continent and threatens to bring record-breaking temperatures to Britain early this coming week.The most serious fires in France were in the Gironde area, near the city of Bordeaux, where more than 1,200 firefighters had been deployed.Météo France, the national weather forecaster, predicted temperatures of at least 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on the country’s Atlantic coast from Sunday to Tuesday.“We are going through an exceptionally harsh season,” President Emmanuel Macron said Friday in Paris. “We already have three times more burned forests than in 2020.”Firefighters have also been battling dozens of blazes in Greece, Portugal and Spain, which has faced unusually high temperatures.“Obviously, the longer the heat wave, the greater the repercussions as far as the issue of forest fires, and also on people’s health,” said Rubén del Campo, a spokesperson for Spain’s meteorological agency.A sanitation worker in Madrid died Saturday after suffering from heat stroke the day before, a city employee said.Portugal’s Health Ministry said this past week that there had been 238 excess deaths in the country from July 7 through Wednesday, during a period of high temperatures. It was unclear how many of those deaths were attributable to the heat.Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa said Friday that the pilot of a firefighting plane was killed when the aircraft crashed in the country’s northeast.And in Greece, firefighters fought more than 50 blazes, the largest on the island of Crete and in the Saronikos region southeast of Athens.The heat wave was expected to hit Britain early this coming week, when temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time.In a country unaccustomed to such heat, workers were spreading grit on the roads, fearing they would melt without protection. Schools said they would move classes remotely. And Transport for London, the city’s transit agency, urged people not to travel Monday and Tuesday because rail tracks could bend or buckle in the heat.The British government’s top emergency committee, Cobra, was also planning an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the response to the extreme weather.The highest temperature officially recorded in Britain was 38.7 degrees Celsius (101.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in July 2019, according to the national weather service, the Met Office.Heat waves in Europe have increased in frequency and intensity over the past four decades, and a study published this month found that the changes were happening faster in the region than in other parts of the world, including hot spots like the Western United States.A heat wave in Europe in 2003 killed 15,000 people in France, many of them older residents who lived in homes without air conditioning. No deaths have been reported in France during this most recent heat wave.Climate scientists have said that global warming is making extreme temperatures more common, but they are investigating whether specific weather events are intensifying or becoming more likely because of human-induced warming of the climate.“Climate change has already influenced the likelihood of temperature extremes in the U.K.,” Nikos Christidis, a climate attribution scientist at the Met Office, said in a news release, adding that the likelihood of experiencing such record-breaking heat in Britain had already increased and would continue. | Climate Change |
This week, major oil and gas companies reported 11-figure profits in the second quarter. At the same time, inflation has reached 40-year highs around the world and recessions loom. The obscene profits of the fossil fuel industry are jarring when set against the many households currently struggling to afford basic heating, cooling and food needs.Today, high energy prices are one of the leading factors driving inflation, and those prices are getting embedded into every facet of daily life, most obviously at the gas pump but also in delivery costs that affect everything from produce to paper towels.Meanwhile, ExxonMobil quadrupled last year’s figures with $17.85bn. Shell beat its previous quarterly high with $11.5bn. Chevron rolled in with $11.62bn in reported profit. This comes in the wake of new analysis last week that calculated $2.8bn a day in pure profit for the oil and gas industry for the last 50 years.These companies have tried to temper criticisms that these profits are at the expense of consumers. In a statement, Chevron’s chief executive, Mike Wirth, said: “We more than doubled investment compared to last year to grow both traditional and new energy business lines … Chevron is increasing energy supplies to help meet the challenges facing global markets.”Wherever that doubling in investment is going, it is not being put toward renewable energy that would alleviate the global disruption the world sees today from high energy prices and decarbonize the energy grids, which are critical for meeting climate goals. In 2018, fossil fuel companies spent only 1% of their budgets on green energy.We need a rapid deployment of renewables. Solar and wind power technologies are already market-ready and cost-competitive. Even when taking into account environmental safeguards, land constraints and technical feasibility, solar and wind energy alone could power the world more than 50 times over, meeting the energy demands of every person in every region of the world.Energy prices alone won’t be enough to drive the kind of decarbonization needed to meet climate goals. For decades climate policy has been designed based on a theory that we can reduce demand for fossil fuels and increase the price of carbon and that the market – turbocharged by alternatives such as wind and solar that are now cheaper than fossil fuels – will respond by constraining supply. But that’s not happening fast enough because there is currently no mechanism to counteract the tax breaks, fossil fuel subsidies and delay tactics that are distorting the markets.These record profits are salt in the wound when we’ve seen that fossil fuel companies have successfully lobbied G20 governments for $151bn within Covid-19 recovery packages on top of their profit. They also spend nearly $200m a year lobbying to delay, control or block policies to tackle climate change. In Canada alone, the oil and gas industry is currently lobbying for $50m in government largesse for carbon capture on its own projects, a false solution in the urgent need for climate action.We can’t rely on the fossil fuel industry to break business as usual, especially one that delivers unthinkable profits for the industry while the rest of us reel from the ripple effects of high fuel prices. That’s why there is an urgent need for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to end the expansion of oil, gas and coal, phase out existing production to limit warming to manageable levels and accelerate a fair energy transition where wealthy, fossil fuel-producing nations lead and support other countries so there is affordable, clean energy from sun, wind and water for everyone. Tzeporah Berman is the international program director at Stand.earth and the chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative | Climate Change |
Power-generating windmill turbines and the church of the village are pictured during sunset at a wind park in Bethencourt, France August 11, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol//File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesSurging power prices pushing governments to decarboniseGore cites greater action in the Unites States, AustraliaSays he is optimistic on further action in Brazil, ChinaLONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The world is at a "positive tipping point" in the fight against climate change as surging oil and gas costs spur governments to decarbonise faster, former U.S. Vice President and co-founder of Generation Investment Management Al Gore told Reuters.He pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act signed in August, a $430-billion bill seen as the biggest climate package in U.S. history, as well as a pledge by Australia earlier this month to cut carbon emissions by 43% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. read more Gore said he also expected Brazil to change its policy on climate after an impending election and China to re-establish a dialogue with U.S. President Joe Biden at the November's G20 summit in Indonesia.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHe added that he was concerned, though, about the moves by some countries to increase fossil fuel output in the face of the war in Ukraine, which Russia calls a "special military operation", that has sent oil and gas prices soaring."There is no such thing as a clean fossil fuel, just as there is no such thing as a healthy cigarette," Gore stated. "We don't want to see investments in fossil fuel infrastructure of the sort that A/ will not alleviate the short-term problem and B/ will guarantee higher emission levels for decades to come.""There are signs absolutely everywhere around the world" of the pace of change picking up, he noted, adding that the need to act was also being driven by worsening weather events."Mother Nature has joined the discussion about the climate crisis," Gore said, citing heatwaves in China, floods in Pakistan and drought in Europe.Gore, U.S. vice president from 1993 to 2001, became known for climate change advocacy with his 2006 Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth", and its 2017 sequel, arguing the climate change struggle is a moral fight.Co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his climate campaigning, he is chairman of Generation Investment Management, a London-headquartered firm focused on sustainable investments across both public and private markets, and on research.Among steps being taken to speed up the energy transition, some governments have chosen to replace existing fossil fuel plants with decades of remaining lifetime as renewable electricity becomes cheaper, he said, while others are looking to ban fossil fuel-powered cars and trucks."At a time when the technology (...) provides three times as many jobs per invested dollar as investments in fossil fuels, then all of that to me adds up to a very positive, palpable tipping point."In Generation's latest annual sustainability trends report, published on Wednesday, the company said that annual investments in the clean economy were on track to exceed $1 trillion over the next few years.While that still falls short of the levels needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, it added that it was rising "at a brisk clip".($1 = 1.0048 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Juliette Portala, editing by Simon Jessop, William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
A woman pushes groceries in temperatures which have reached well above triple digits in Palm Springs, California, U.S. July 20, 2022. REUTERS/David Swanson/FilesRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAug 17 (Reuters) - Californians were urged to ratchet down the use of electricity in their homes and businesses on Wednesday as a wave of extreme heat settles over much of the state, stretching tight power supplies to their breaking point.Temperatures in the most populous state are forecast to climb to well above 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) during the afternoon.The extreme conditions are the latest sign of the impact of climate change in the U.S. West, where wildfires and severe drought have emerged as a growing threat. As spells of excessive heat become more frequent, the strain on power and water utilities will become more acute, scientists say. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comTo prevent power outages, residents are asked to turn off lights and appliances and preset their thermostats to 78F (26C). Reducing usage is especially critical from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time (2300 to 0400 GMT), when demand across the state typically peaks and solar power generation begins to ebb.The heat is also raising the risk of wildfires. The Wishon Fire, a 350-acre blaze in the Sequoia National Forest, was 35% contained. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/3T9z9BB)On Tuesday, the U.S. government warned that more drastic cuts in water usage were needed to protect dwindling supplies held in reservoirs that crucial to the well-being of seven Western states.Two critical reservoirs - Lake Mead and Lake Powell - have fallen to just above one-quarter of their capacity this summer. If they fall much lower, the lakes will be unable to generate hydroelectric power for millions of customers in the West, authorities say. read more In the Northern California coastal community of Eureka for instance, a high of 110F (43C) was expected on Wednesday while farther north residents in Electric City, Washington, will see 105F, the National Weather Service said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comDADU, Pakistan, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Authorities in Pakistan are scrambling to protect a vital power station supplying electricity to millions of people against a growing threat of flooding, officials said on Monday.Floods from record monsoon rains and glacial melt in the mountainous north have affected 33 million people and killed almost 1,400, washing away homes, roads, railways, livestock and crops, in damage estimated at $30 billion.Both the government and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres have blamed climate change for the extreme weather that led to the flooding that submerged huge areas of the nation of 220 million. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe electricity station in the district of Dadu in the southern province of Sindh, one of the country's worst affected areas, supplies power to six provincial districts.Troops were busy strengthening a dike built in front of the station, a visit to the site showed on Sunday."All preventive measures have been taken already to save the grid in case any flooding happens," Syed Murtaza Ali Shah, a top district official, told Reuters on Monday.Rescued flood victims sit in a boat, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in village Arazi, in Sehwan, Pakistan, September 11, 2022. REUTERS/Yasir Rajput/File PhotoThe comment followed orders from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reported by state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, to ensure the 500kV power station did not get flooded.On Monday, a dust storm in nearby Sehwan town uprooted hundreds of tents pitched at roadsides by people made homeless by the floods, as a fresh spell of rains expected in the middle of the month begins to set in, officials said."If rains come where would we go - we are sitting under open sky, we don't know what to eat, what to cook," Muhammad Hasan, one of those impacted by the storm, told Reuters."All the tents got uprooted by strong winds today, we do not know where to go. We are desperate."The Pakistan Meteorological Department said on Monday it expects more rain in the area in the next few days, posing a new threat to displaced people living in tents or in the open along raised highways.U.N. agencies have begun work to assess the South Asian nation's reconstruction needs after it received 391 mm (15.4 inches) of rain, or nearly 190% more than the 30-year average, in July and August.Sindh received 466% more rain than average and all the flood waters pass through Dadu, a district with a population of 1.5 million, because of its location. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Syed Raza Hassan in Dadu; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Philippa FletcherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission has approved a coalmine expansion in the state’s Upper Hunter region that would cause almost 1bn tonnes of carbon emissions.The decision will allow MACH Energy to double the output of its Mount Pleasant mine in Muswellbrook to 21m tonnes a year and extend its life to 2048.The Lock the Gate Alliance has slammed the decision as “reckless and irresponsible” and called for a national approach to major projects that factored the climate crisis into assessments.The project would be responsible for 876 megatonnes of emissions over its life, 860 megatonnes of which would be the result of emissions produced after the coal is sold and used, mostly overseas.“It is madness that as humanity teeters on the brink of climate catastrophe, an assessment authority such as the IPC can wave through a coalmine that will be solely responsible for 876m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Lock the Gate’s NSW coordinator Nic Clyde.“This project is the largest coalmine expansion approved in the state since the Paris agreement called on nations of the world to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees yet is totally inconsistent with that pledge.”The federal environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, must still make a decision on whether the project should proceed and the alliance called on the minister to reject it.It comes after the Greens introduced legislation that would create a “climate trigger” in national environmental laws that would ban developments emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon. It would also require federal assessment of developments emitting 25,000 to 100,000 tonnes of carbon. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Wendy Wales, a member of the Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group, said the expansion was “another nail in the coffin of our local environment” that would contribute to further loss of critically endangered habitats and a corridor used by local threatened wildlife.“If the significant problem of catastrophic climate change were understood by our politicians – state and federal, Labor and Coalition – and the mining companies themselves, this mine would not proceed,” she said.In its decision, the commission said of the 960 public submissions it received, 689 supported the project, 251 objected to it and 20 were considered comments.It said the submissions in support related to the economic aspects of the project and concerns about the effects mine closures would have on communities.Most of the objections related to air quality, emissions and climate change.The commission found the project should be approved subject to strict conditions, saying it “would achieve an appropriate balance between relevant environmental, economic and social considerations”.In its statement of reasons, the commission wrote it received submissions expressing concern about the project’s emissions and the impact it would have on climate change and future generations.But it said under the rules of the Paris agreement the 860 megatonne of scope 3 emissions were “attributed to the country within which they are emitted”.It found the remaining projected emissions were “consistent with the current national and NSW policy settings and commitments”.The commission found the project’s effects on the environment could be minimised or offset. It included a condition that the company demonstrate in its biodiversity management plan how it will avoid or minimise serious or irreversible damage to a newly described legless lizard on the mine site.Comment was sought from MACH Energy. | Climate Change |
Hamish Johnston reviews Pandora’s Toolbox: the Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention by Wake Smith Unknown outcomes Climate-intervention methods could provide hope or hazards. (Courtesy: iStock/fergregory) The rapid reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero is the only practical way to halt climate change. But thanks to two centuries of burning fossil fuels, we have created a warmer climate that will endure for generations. As a result, humanity will be faced with an important decision: do we live on a hot planet with all the problems that brings, or do we intervene to try to cool things down?
Pandora’s Toolbox: the Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention, by the US academic and former aerospace executive Wake Smith, looks at how we might try to cool the Earth. In doing so he has written an expansive scientific, technological, economic, sociological and moral exploration of the climate challenges we face.
Although the scope of his book is very broad, Smith’s goal is to make the case for a rapid expansion of research on how we could cool the planet by stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI). In principle, this method would create a “veil” of chemicals in the atmosphere that would reflect some sunlight back into space. However, doing so is controversial for reasons that Smith covers in forensic detail.
One obvious reason for caution is that altering the chemical makeup of the atmosphere is what got us into this climate mess, and some worry that further tinkering could make things worse. Another important issue is moral hazard – if we can cool the Earth by spraying chemicals into the stratosphere, then why should we bother cutting our greenhouse-gas emissions?
Smith begins Pandora’s Toolbox by highlighting the dangers of global warming and pointing out that the greatest uncertainty in the future is how humans will respond to the challenges of addressing climate change. Even if we do manage to meet the Paris Agreement and get to net-zero emissions shortly after 2050, Smith warns, the excess carbon dioxide that is already in the atmosphere will endure for centuries or even millennia. This means that temperatures will not quickly return to pre-industrial levels. Worse still, icecaps will continue to melt and the oceans will continue to expand, and therefore sea levels will rise well into the next century and beyond.
Smith argues that if future generations want to improve the climate in their lifetimes, they will have to resort to climate interventions to cool the planet – in fact, he predicts that they will demand them.
Remove and reduce
The book is based on a course on climate-change intervention that Smith teaches at Yale University, and it looks at two broad strategies for reducing temperatures in the short term. One is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the other is to reduce the amount of solar energy Earth receives from the Sun.
Planting trees is one option for removing carbon dioxide. However, for the levels needed this would require vast amounts of land, and forests reach a saturation point in carbon absorption after about 50 years. A solution is to harvest the wood – or other biomass crops – and burn it to generate energy while capturing the carbon dioxide produced and pumping it underground, where it would remain for a very long time.
Smith looks at other removal strategies such as making biochar, which involves the partial recovery of elemental carbon from biomass and then using that carbon to enrich soils. Increasing the uptake of carbon by the oceans and coastal areas is also discussed along with the enhanced weathering of rocks, which locks up carbon in carbonate materials. He also considers carbon capture and storage directly from the air.
Smith’s conclusion about carbon-removal schemes is that they will have to be done “in a big way and for a long time”. As he points out: “We will need to perfect those tools and, more crucially, we will need to organize the world to pay the trillions of dollars required to deploy them year in and year out for decades to come.”
Treating the symptom
Unlike cutting emissions or capturing carbon, SAI will not stop or reverse climate change. However, Smith believes that it could be a useful and relatively inexpensive way to deal with the main symptom of climate change: rising temperatures.
For several years, Smith and colleagues have been looking into the practicalities of sending material 20 km up into the stratosphere, where it would cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight back into space. One way of doing this is to disperse tiny droplets of sulphuric acid, which we know will work because such droplets are responsible for the cooling effects seen after large volcanic eruptions. In 1991, for example, sulphurous effluent from Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines cooled the Northern Hemisphere by about 0.5 °C.
Smith has calculated that SAI could be done using several hundred specially designed aircraft. Running constantly, he reckons that such a fleet would reduce Earth’s temperature by 2 °C within one year. What’s more, such a programme would not be that expensive, costing between about $7bn and $70bn per year to run (at 2020 prices). He claims that the size of such an operation is manageable – pointing out that more than 40 companies in the US have revenues greater than $70bn. Indeed, he says that an SAI programme would be much cheaper than just about any other climate intervention technique – costing about $5 per head of global population.
Smith adds that there is more than enough precursor sulphur dioxide available to run such a programme, and although we do not have suitable aircraft today, creating a fleet should not be a technological problem.
Unlike atmospheric carbon dioxide, sulphuric acid is expected to endure about 18 months in the atmosphere. So, Smith argues that if we are not happy with the effects of SAI, we could stop them relatively quickly.
Global effects need global co-operation
The biggest challenge according to Smith is the governance of an SAI programme. He argues that it would have to be a global initiative and ideally would have the consent of all the people on the planet. However, because of the relatively low cost, it would be possible for a major power to run an SAI programme unilaterally, or with the help of allies. This would have worldwide implications because once dispersed, SAI material would move over much of the world so its effects could not be confined locally – at least in our current understanding.
Indeed, Smith admits that there is much that we do not understand about SAI, and that will not change until we do much more in the field. In the meantime, he believes we should think of SAI as a “fire extinguisher” that we may have to use to dampen down temperatures in the future.
When I first picked up Pandora’s Toolbox I was expecting a comprehensive treatment of SAI and Smith delivers on this – writing in precise, thoughtful and sometimes wry prose that is easy and enjoyable to read. What I did not expect was an exploration of the science, economics, politics and psychology of climate change. Smith includes this exposition to justify the need for more research into SAI. However, the narrative that he presents about the imminent threat of climate change and the challenges of addressing it stands alone as an excellent introduction to the most important issue facing humanity. 2022 Cambridge University Press 401pp £20hb | Climate Change |
Nine out of 10 major Australian electricity companies are failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the goals of the landmark Paris climate agreement, a study has found.Businesses not acting in accordance with the 2015 Paris agreement goal of limiting global heating to well below 2C since pre-industrial times included the generators and retailers AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin, according to the study led by University of Queensland researchers.The only electricity company examined that was found to be on track to achieve Paris goals was Engie, the French multinational that closed Victoria’s Hazelwood coal-fired plant in 2017 and has committed to retire its gas plants by 2037.The study, conducted in partnership with researchers from the University of Oxford and Princeton University, also examined the climate performance of 10 global cement companies. None were found to be reducing emissions in line with the Paris agreement goals.The lead author of the study and an assistant professor at UQ’s business school, Dr Saphira Rekker, said the results made clear that emissions would need to be cut much faster than planned if the world was to address the climate crisis.“These results are alarming and show the stark reality of how businesses continue to operate without a clear plan for decarbonisation,” she said.Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study involved the researchers assessing what they believed was a reasonable carbon budget and decarbonisation pathway for individual electricity, cement or steel businesses. A carbon budget sets out how much a company can release while staying true to the Paris agreement goals.Other big-emitting Australian electricity generators that were found to not be on track to achieve the Paris goals were Stanwell, CS Energy, Alinta, Delta, Millmerran and Callide.Rekker said the researchers found many businesses had made commitments that did not reflect what their carbon budget should be to achieve the Paris goals, and had delayed action until several years after the global agreement was signed in 2015.Some companies had set a baseline of 2020, effectively ignoring their emissions before that date. The study used a baseline of 2014 based on a modelling framework devised by the International Energy Agency.“There is so much talk about ‘Paris compliance’ but on a company level there is very little scientific rigour in what has been done to date,” Rekker said. “We found what has been done doesn’t add up.” Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morningThe Paris agreement was brokered between nearly 200 countries, which agreed to act collectively to limit global heating to well below 2C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C. Individual companies are not bound by the agreement, though many have promised to make cuts consistent with it.The findings of the study have been rejected by the Australian Energy Council, which represents 20 major electricity and gas businesses. A council spokesperson said the study used its own methodology to assess performance and did not acknowledge “the real progress that the energy sector has made to drive Australia’s emissions reductions”.The spokesperson said electricity generators’ output was centrally coordinated by the Australian Energy Market Operator to meet demand in real time and their emissions reductions should be considered collectively. Government emissions projections released last year suggested the industry was “making substantial progress” and expected to cut its total emissions by 55% by 2030 compared with 2005 levels, they said.Dr Matthew Ives, who contributed to the study while a research associate at the University of Oxford and is now director of economic strategy with the South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet, said the study was a landmark moment in bringing accountability to the Paris agreement goals.“Ensuring companies are aligned with their Paris-compliant pathways is important for everyone as we are already experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change, but it’s also very important for companies and investors who need to know their exposure to transition and litigation risk and the devaluation of a company’s assets,” he said.The researchers said they planned to make the test used to assess companies’ performance freely available online for executives, investors and stakeholders. They said it had already been applied to the steel industry. A follow-up study in partnership with Norges Bank Investment Management examined emissions data from 25 steel companies and found most had emitted more than 100% of their carbon budget by 2019. | Climate Change |
As the Montreal Protocol to Protect the Ozone Layer turns 35 on Friday, World Ozone Day, the United Nations has said that continuing the level of cooperation that led to the treaty’s adoption and success is just what is needed to protect life on Earth, end the climate crisis and ensure a brighter future for us all.
Hailing the Montreal Protocol as the most successful environmental treaty ever, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said the instrument’s adoption ended one of the biggest threats ever to face humanity as a whole: the depletion of the ozone layer.
“When the world found out that ozone-depleting gases used in aerosols and cooling were creating a hole in the sky, they came together,” the agency said in a press statement, adding: “They showed that multilateralism and effective global cooperation worked, and they phased out these gases. Now the ozone layer is healing, allowing it once again to shield humanity from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.” Catastrophe averted
This action has protected millions of people from skin cancer and cataracts over the years since. It allowed vital ecosystems to survive and thrive. It safeguarded life on Earth. And it slowed climate change: if ozone-depleting chemicals had not been banned, we would be looking at a global temperature rise of an additional 2.5°C by the end of this century.
“This would have been a catastrophe,” said UNEP.
In his message on World Ozone Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the Protocol was a success because, when science discovered the threat we all faced, governments and their partners acted.
“The Montreal Protocol is a powerful example of multilateralism in action. With the many problems facing the world – from conflicts to growing poverty, deepening inequality and climate emergency – it is a reminder that we can succeed in working together for the common good,” said the UN chief.
The Protocol has much more to give
Mr. Guterres said that the Montreal Protocol has already contributed to tackling the climate crisis, and indeed, by protecting plants from ultraviolet radiation, allowing them to live and store carbon, it has avoided up to an extra 1 degree Celsius of global warming.
“The Protocol’s work to phase out climate-heating gases and improve energy efficiency through its Kigali Amendment can further slow climate disruption. But, only by mirroring the cooperation and speedy action of the Montreal Protocol elsewhere can we stop the carbon pollution that is dangerously heating our world. We have a choice: collective action or collective suicide,” he warned.
UNEP said that the Montreal Protocol has much more to give. Under the Kigali Amendment nations have committed to phase down hydrofluorocarbons – a move that could avoid up to 0.4°C of global temperature rise by the end of the century. The Protocol and its Amendment are helping the world adopt climate friendly and energy-efficient cooling technology.
What does this mean for humanity? UNEP said that as the international community continues to protect the ozone layer, the Protocol will continue to safeguard us and all life on Earth.
“It also means a cooler planet as more countries ratify the Amendment. It means more people being able to access vital cooling technology without further warming the planet. It also means the Protocol continuing to send a clear and lasting message: global cooperation to protect life on Earth is our best chance at a brighter future for everyone,” concluded UNEP. | Climate Change |
A bilingual, multisensory theater piece for pre-K youth and their families to explore Eggers Grove’s rich ecosystem. A Little Village mural that will be created from a community coloring book and painted by community members. A documentary film that focuses on the environmental justice issues on the Southeast Side where screenings and discussions will take place.These are but a few art projects centered on environmental justice and climate change that will be created and activated with public programming by next summer through E(art)H Chicago (Earth Art Chicago). The citywide community-based art initiative was created by the Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation (ISEIF) to raise awareness and inspire action on the environment and to educate Illinois residents on cost-saving environmental interventions they can make in their homes.According to ISEIF program director Uzma Noormohamed, the response from the artistic and nonprofit community was bigger than expected. Funding partners that included Builders Initiative, the Joyce Foundation, the Chicago Frontline Funding Initiative and the Regeneration Fund are giving $547,310 to 11 grant recipients. The majority of the funds are supporting art projects in communities facing environmental injustices or those with limited public art.“Artists were incredibly interested in engaging this intersection of art and the state of the natural environment,” Noormohamed said. “We saw the recurring theme of healing and care — an undeniable recognition of the healing and need for community gathering that needs to take place in the face of a crisis like the looming climate challenges. There’s no doubt the lived experiences under the pandemic brought out the need for healing and to be able to do that in community in order to regain strength in the face of a crisis.”Artists, environmentalists and nonprofits were invited to apply for grants ranging from $7,500 to $100,000. Nearly 150 applications were submitted, with 30 finalists from 19 neighborhoods then interviewed by project staff members and art advisors. Projects will be located on the Southeast Side, McKinley Park, Albany Park, Austin, Pilsen and other neighborhoods.Artist X’s Coiled Serpent will receive $70,000 for native plantings for the Horner Park mound, built in the tradition of Native earthen mounds, with a serpentine path leading up to the top. Alt_Chicago and Happy Returns, both Austin-based nonprofits, are partnering under the banner Redemptive Plastics, to use their grant of $65,000 to hire 11 Austin residents to collect plastic refuse that will be cleaned and repurposed into three public benches that will sit in the community. What began as a weekly/monthly cleanup venture for the community in 2019 with Alt_Chicago evolved to recyclable public art and utility, from trash bins now to benches.X, an Indigenous futurist and multidisciplinary artist specializing in land, architectural, and new media installation, works on mound shaping a large-scale, augmented, public earthwork installation at Schiller Woods-West forest preserve in Schiller Park on Oct. 9, 2019. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)X, an Indigenous futurist and multidisciplinary artist specializing in land, architectural, and new media installation, works on mound shaping a large-scale, augmented, public earthwork installation at Schiller Woods-West forest preserve in Schiller Park on Oct. 9, 2019. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)“We want to really make a sustainable practice for the future — not just for our community but for all communities,” Alt_Chicago co-founder Jon Veal said about the collaboration between him, co-founder Jordan Campbell, Cody Norman and Tom Burtonwood. “Redemptive plastics is the recognition that the first sign of disinvestment within a community is trash. And that when people see trash, they don’t feel good, they don’t feel safe. They don’t feel that they live in a clean space or that they want to hang out there. This plastic that is in our community is an eyesore. It destroys our environment and destroys our Earth. We’re not only trying to have a better tomorrow, we’re trying to have a better tomorrow for our children.”Artists Alexx Temeña and Andrea Yarbrough, steward of the group titled in ℅: Black women (in care of Black women), are partnering with their “House of Kapwa” structure slated for a downtown park space. Awarded $90,000 for the interactive installation, they seek to create unity between humans and our environment and ecology.“It’s really about activating this sense of shared oneness and union that’s been suppressed by colonial notions of individualism and separation and disconnection from the earth and disconnection from each other, really,” Temeña said.Temeña said the idea for the piece came about in Sept. 2020, when she was thinking about rest, and how we create spaces for it. What was going to be a performance art piece will now be a large circular structure about 20 feet in diameter with an opening at the top that represents a connection to our ancestors and to the divine when we rest and slow down. The exterior of the structure is a 360-degree natural loom that one can weave in natural elements like foliage and flowers.With complimentary practices — Temeña creating processes for healing and Yarbrough creating spaces for healing — the friends came together to create the physical manifestation. Once “House of Kapwa” ends its run in the Loop, it will go to a Woodlawn church as a space where Woodlawn residents can meet each other in a public space.“I think for projects like this, it offers a space for us to come and to be in conversation with ourselves and with each other about what is happening,” Yarbrough said. “Because the violence isn’t gonna stop. It’s gonna always be present and around us. So how do we engage with it from the space in which we are making space for each other to heal and process and to be present? For me, the hope is that this is a space that cultivates that and brings you into a space where you can think a little bit deeper about your own relationship to something outside of yourself.”Earth Art Chicago is an ISEIF capstone project before the foundation comes to an end after the activations in 2023. Noormohamed said the foundation wanted to be able to harness the creative potential in the city’s communities and honor the work that’s already being done locally to address climate change. “Our vision was to center communities and public art that provokes dialogue, that evokes healing and transformation and the relationship that humans have to nature, and to be able to capture all of the complicated mix of strained fragility and joy in the face of a massive challenge like climate change, pollution and even neglect,” Noormohamed said.More information can be found at [email protected] Veal, co-founder and director of Alt_Chicago in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, on July 19, 2022. The group has a project planned to collect discarded plastic in the area to be converted into functional art objects such as benches. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here. | Climate Change |
Sept. 12, 2022 6:26 pm ETAn unspoken truth of the climate-change crusade is this: Anything the U.S. does to reduce emissions won’t matter much to global temperatures. U.S. cuts will be swamped by the increases in India, Africa and especially China. Look no further than China’s boom in new coal-fired electricity. Under the nonbinding 2015 Paris climate agreement, China can increase its emissions until 2030. And is it ever. Between 2015 and 2021 China’s emissions increased by some 11%, according to the Climate Action Tracker, which evaluates nationally determined contributions under the Paris agreement. The U.S. has reduced its emissions by some 6% between 2015 and 2021. Beijing made minimal new commitments at last year’s Glasgow confab on climate, despite world pressure. | Climate Change |
With roughly 32 million people displaced, more than 1,300 killed and nearly a third of the country still underwater following a monsoon season intensified by climate change, Pakistan is offering a grim case study of the potential consequences of rising global temperatures.“I have seen many humanitarian disasters in the world, but I have never seen climate carnage on the scale of the floods here in Pakistan,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said a weekend press conference in Karachi after touring the flooding that has resulted from the combination of melting glaciers and rainfall nearly six times the 30-year average.While the flooding has turned much of the country’s southern provinces into vast inland lakes and destroyed more than 1.7 million homes, it is also covering farmland, wiping out cotton and rice crops (two of Pakistan's top exports), and preventing farmers from planting fall wheat, which helps feed the population of more than 220 million.“Emissions are rising as people die in floods and famines. And this is insanity,” Guterres said. “This is collective suicide. From Pakistan, I am issuing a global appeal: Stop the madness; end the war with nature; invest in renewable energy now.”Rising floodwater on the outskirts of Bhan Syedabad, Pakistan. (Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)As the monsoon season nears its close, more rain is still in the forecast, raising fears that flooding could still worsen before the waters recede. Officials in Sindh province had worked over the last few days to try to shore up a major electricity station that supplies power to six provincial districts where millions of people live, Reuters reported.Since last month, the flooding has disrupted the education of approximately 3.5 million children in Pakistan, the United Nations said late last week. Pakistan’s economy, which was already suffering due to debt and the worst inflation in 47 years, is expected to face an even greater test in the months ahead as food shortages are predicted and the estimates for the total financial losses from the flooding near $30 billion.Motorists make their way through a flooded street in Karachi. (Rizwan TabassumI/AFP via Getty Images)In a call on Sunday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the massive flooding was likely to lower his country’s GDP by two percentage points.“Pakistan is grappling with the immediate challenge of averting an imminent food insecurity in the country as well as providing for rescue and rehabilitation of the victims of this climate-induced calamity,” Sharif told Erdogan, NDTV reported.“There is an acute sense of despair in all corners of the country. In the immediate term, families are likely to go hungry as employment dries up and they cannot afford food," Shabnam Baloch, Pakistan director for the International Rescue Committee, said in Monday press release. "Meanwhile, we know that during times of crisis, women and girls are at an increased risk of violence, exploitation and abuse, as pressures mount for households to access an income and source food and essential household supplies."Flood victims in Sehwan. (Jan Ali Laghari/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)The United States has sent troops to Sukkur Airport in central Pakistan to help deliver 600,000 pounds of supplies, and United States Agency for International Development administrator Samantha Power announced $20 million in new assistance for Pakistan late last week, in addition to the $30 million previously pledged.Studies have shown that for every degree Celsius of temperature rise the atmosphere holds 7 percent more moisture, which unloads in extreme rainfall events such as the ones that have so far struck Pakistan, Kentucky, China, South Korea, Texas, Illinois, Wyoming, Missouri and California this summer.Tent city has been placed for the flood affected peoples of Jhangara and Bajara village of Sehwan on Sept. 10 (Photo by Jan Ali Laghari/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, raising the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and worsening the so-called greenhouse effect and pushing temperatures more than 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Without a dramatic and immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the scenes coming out of places like Pakistan will continue to become more commonplace, the United Nations has warned.“Today it’s Pakistan, tomorrow it could be your country, wherever you live. This is a global crisis ... it requires a global response,” Guterres said. | Climate Change |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Republicans in Congress are racing to characterize the new spending bill being pushed by Democrats as "out of touch" with the American people, as they work to try to defeat the more than $700 billion legislative package. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced they had reached a deal Wednesday evening to move forward with a vastly pared-back version of Build Back Better. The deal reached includes $433 billion in spending on climate change, drug pricing reform and health care provisions, over $300 billion in tax increases and an agreement between Schumer and Pelosi to vote on oil permitting reforms.Republicans immediately started criticizing the deal after the announcement, calling it a "desperate attempt" to distract voters as the midterm elections approach and dubbing it "Build Back Broke."A Senate Republican leadership aide told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the GOP is planning to message the bill as the "most reckless" of the Democrats' "reckless tax and spending spree."MANCHIN, SCHUMER AGREE TO VASTLY PARED BACK VERSION OF BUILD BACK BETTER Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced they had reached a deal Wednesday evening to move forward with a vastly pared back version of Build Back Better. The aide pointed to the GOP's topline message: that Democrats are "out of touch with every American.""Democrats are giving tax breaks to rich people to buy electric cars, extending supersized Obamacare subsidies (that also go to rich people), and beefing up the IRS to go after Americans. Raising taxes on job creators is a known job killer and shrinks the economy," the aide continued.Recession, record inflation and $5 per gallon gas are Americans' top concerns, said the Senate aide, who argued that Democrats are not addressing those issues in the deal. "You don’t raise taxes or increase government spending in a recession," the staffer continued.MANCHIN DEAL 'DESPERATE ATTEMPT' BY DEMOCRATS TO DISTRACT VOTERS, SAYS MEMBER OF HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIPOn Thursday morning, the Commerce Department said gross domestic product shrank by 0.9% on an annualized basis in the three-month period from April through June. Then-Democratic candidate Kyrsten Sinema speaks to supporters after officially winning the U.S. Senate race at the Omni Montelucia resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Nov. 12, 2018. (REUTERS/Caitlin O'Hara)The U.S. economy shrank in the spring for the second consecutive quarter, meeting the criteria for a recession as raging inflation and higher interest rates forced consumers and businesses to pull back on spending. With Manchin onboard, moderate Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is under scrutiny since her vote may determine if the bill ultimately passes or fails. The 50/50 Senate requires a simple majority to pass this budget bill under reconciliation rules that eliminate the 60-vote hurdle of the filibuster. Sinema would have to vote "yes," and Vice President Kamala Harris would have to cast the tie-breaking vote in order to move the legislation to the House of Representatives. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (Getty Images/Reuters)The GOP aide told Fox News Digital that there is always an "open line" between the GOP leadership and Sinema, whose vote could sink or carry the bill. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPSinema has concerns about the $14 billion "carried interest" piece of the legislation due to its anti-investment provisions, so Republicans are hopeful that could be a dealbreaker for the senator and push her to vote no.The senator's spokesperson said she was still reviewing the agreement Thursday, according to The Associated Press.Fox News' Jason Donner and Megan Henney contributed to this report. Kelly Laco is a politics editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @kelly_laco. | Climate Change |
An illegal dirt road ripping through protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon is now just a few miles shy of connecting two of the worst areas of deforestation in the region, according to satellite images and accounts from people familiar with the area. If the road is completed it will turn a large area of remaining forest into an island, under pressure from human activity on all sides.Environmentalists have been warning about just this kind of development in the rainforest for decades. Roads are significant because most deforestation occurs alongside them, where access is easier and land value higher.On the east side of the new road is a massively-deforested area where Brazil's largest cattle herd, 2.4 million head, now grazes. This municipality of Sao Felix do Xingu is the country’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter, thanks to deforestation, according to Climate Observatory, a network of environmental groups. It is roughly the size of Maine and has a population of 136,000.To the west is an area where three years ago ranchers coordinated the burning of several swaths of virgin forest in an episode famously known as the Day of Fire. This municipality, larger than Maryland, is Brazil’s eighth-largest greenhouse gas emitter.Wedged in between is the Xingu basin. The Xingu River that runs through it is one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River. It begins in the drier Cerrado biome, surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of protected areas.The Xingu River is home to several Indigenous peoples, who are now pressed on both sides by an onslaught of settlers who have built a large network of dirt roads and illegal airstrips. Experts said the stakes could not be higher.The opportunities for new deforestation "in the center of the corridor of protected areas of the Xingu brings the risk of an irreversible breaking of the Amazon rainforest, dividing it into islands of degraded forest, which does not have the strength to resist climate change. We need to protect and maintain large forest corridors to sustain the resilience of the threatened biome,” Biviany Rojas, the program coordinator of Socio-Environmental Institute, a Brazilian non-profit, told the Associated Press.Almost half of Brazil’s climate pollution comes from deforestation, according to Climate Observatory. The destruction is so vast now that the eastern Amazon, just east of Xingu basin, has ceased to be a carbon sink, or absorber, for the Earth and has converted into a carbon source, according to a study published in 2021 in the journal Nature.“They come to deforest, to extract timber and to dig for gold,” Indigenous leader Mydjere Kayapo told the AP in a phone interview. His people, the Kayapo, have suffered invasions from loggers and gold miners, who contaminate rivers with mud and mercury, co-opt leaders and provoke internal division.The new road was detected earlier this year. According to satellite images analyzed by a network of nonprofits called Xingu+ and reviewed by the AP, it is 27 miles (43 kilometers) long.The road cuts through two ostensibly protected areas: Terra do Meio (Middle Earth) Ecological Station, a federal unit, and Iriri State Forest, managed by the state of Pará, famous for its deforestation rates.From January to August, Terra do Meio alone lost 9 square miles (24 square kilometers) of forest, and Iriri lost 6 square kilometers (2 square miles) of rainforest along the illegal road. In July, Xingu+ reported the illegal road-building to Brazil’s attorney general.The city of Novo Progresso is also west of the new road. In recent days, the city has been covered by thick smoke from wildfires, deliberately set. On Monday alone, satellite sensors picked up 331 outbreaks of fire in the municipality, according to monitoring from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research. August, which falls in the dry season, is typically the second worst month for both deforestation and fire.Brazil's federal agency ICMBio, which manages protected areas, and Pará's secretary of environment, didn’t respond to AP emails seeking comment about the illegal road. These are the agencies responsible for protecting the areas flanking the road.Under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, the area deforested in Brazil’s Amazon has reached a 15-year high, according to official data. The space agency said its national monitoring systems showed the Brazilian Amazon lost more than 5,000 square miles (13,200 square kilometers) of rainforest in the 12 months from Aug. 2020 to July 2021. New data is expected out by the end of the year.____Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | Climate Change |
it's more than carbon dioxide — Exhaust contains a host of polluting particles, from soot to nitrogen oxides. Enlarge / The evening sun colors the underside of the Boeing 747 and the following contrail red in Berlin in 2021. Jet A-1, a straw-colored, kerosene-based fuel used in most big airplanes, is a difficult substance to replace. It’s packed with energy; per unit of weight, at least 60 times as much as the lithium-ion batteries used to propel electric cars. It’s also terrible for the climate. So as the aviation industry has gradually climbed aboard global pledges to get rid of carbon emissions, it has mostly promised to make up for its damage elsewhere—through offsets that might involve planting trees, restoring wetlands, or paying people to preserve ecosystems that otherwise would have been razed. But according to a growing body of research, those efforts leave something out: Most of the planet-warming effects of flying aren’t from carbon dioxide.
Burning jet fuel at 35,000 feet sparks a molecular cascade in the troposphere. The initial combustion releases a shower of particles—sulfur, nitrogen oxides, soot, and water vapor. At those frigid heights, some of the particles become nuclei around which condensation gathers and then quickly freezes, helping to produce puffy contrails that either vanish or persist as wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds. In the presence of the Sun’s rays, nitrogen molecules set off a chain of reactions that produce ozone and destroy free-floating atmospheric methane. It's tough to pin down the meaning of all this chemistry. Some of these reactions, like the methane destruction, help cool the Earth. Others warm it. It all depends on the atmospheric conditions for each flight, multiplied across tens of thousands of planes streaking across the sky each day.
Overall, the warming effects add up. In an analysis published last year, an international team of researchers pinned 3.5 percent of total warming in 2011 on aviation alone—which may sound small, but the number has been growing fast. The authors found that roughly two-thirds of warming due to aviation at that time was caused by all of those factors that aren’t CO2 emissions. Which is why some scientists argue that the term “carbon-neutral” doesn’t mean much, at least when it comes to flying jets. If the aviation industry wants to do its part to help meet global temperature goals, it’s better yet to think in terms of “climate-neutral,” says Nicoletta Brazzola, a climate policy researcher at ETH Zurich. In a study published this week in Nature Climate Change, she outlines all the ways to get there, including rules for more efficient flying, new technologies like low-carbon fuels and batteries, and more intensive efforts to remove carbon from the air that would go beyond canceling out aviation’s CO2 emissions, accounting for all of the industry’s warming effects. And, oh yeah: less flying. “It would require an enormous effort to meet this climate-neutrality framework solely with technology fixes and no changes to lifestyle,” she says.
So far, the industry’s focus has been on offsetting carbon. It’s the greenhouse gas we all know, and it’s easy enough to measure how burning jet fuel converts into tons of carbon emissions. That’s based on intimate knowledge of existing fuels and engines. Airlines already make those calculations and let customers see their damage—and often pay a little extra to offset those emissions through partner programs that do things like plant trees. Expecting continued growth in demand for aviation, members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have pledged to hold their net carbon emissions to 2019 levels through those types of offsets. That effort itself is far from perfect—a number of investigations have found that many of the offset programs that airlines partner with chronically overestimate the amount of carbon that they successfully store. And again, those schemes are all about carbon.
In part, that’s because it’s tricky to account for all the non-CO2 factors. Atmospheric chemistry at 35,000 feet is inherently localized, dependent on factors like temperature and humidity. The greatest uncertainty is the potential behavior of contrails—the tendrils that form behind planes as water molecules condense around exhaust particles and freeze. “The basic microphysics of the ice crystals is quite difficult to get a handle on,” says David Lee, an atmospheric scientist at Manchester Metropolitan University who studies aviation emissions. If the air is humid and cool enough, they can hang around as cirrus clouds, and that would likely have a net warming effect. The time of day is another X factor. During the day, those clouds can reflect sunlight, keeping the Earth cool. But they can also trap heat, especially at night. Page: 1 2 Next → | Climate Change |
Hurricane Ian is quickly gaining monstrous strength as it moves over oceans partly heated up by climate change, just like 30 other Atlantic tropical storms since 2017 that became much more powerful in less than a day.This turbocharging of storms is likely to become even more frequent as the world gets warmer, scientists say.After getting 67% stronger in less than 22 hours from Monday to Tuesday, Ian is bearing down as a likely Category 4 hurricane that threatens to deliver a nightmare storm-surge to the Tampa Bay and southwest Florida regions.Ian's rapid intensification occurred after it traveled over Caribbean waters that are about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) warmer than normal, largely because of climate change. Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach said the warm water creates "a lot more rocket fuel for the storm."Climate change has other effects. The build up of heat-trapping gases from burning fossil fuels is making storms slower and wetter. It exacerbates deadly storm surges through sea-level rise, worsens freshwater flooding and increases the proportion of monster Category 4 and 5 storms, like Fiona last week, several studies show.The current hurricane season had been uncharacteristically mild until about a week ago because of dry air in the Atlantic. Yet while storms aren't necessarily more frequent, they are getting nastier because of global warming, experts say."In terms of impacts and climate change, yes, this season could be a harbinger of sort of what is to come," said University of Albany hurricane scientist Kristen Corbosiero. "But it's really hard to say that climate change has an impact on any one storm in terms of its formation or its individual intensity."The National Hurricane Center defines rapidly intensifying storms as those that gain at least 35 mph in wind speed in less than 24 hours. Sudden changes can cause major problems for forecasters and emergency planners trying to help residents get out of harm's way.In Ian's case, the meteorological conditions were so obvious that forecasters were warning about it days in advance.While hurricane seasons fluctuate year-to-year, when looked at over 10-year intervals, there are roughly 25% more rapidly intensifying storms in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific now than 40 years ago, according to an analysis of National Hurricane Center data by The Associated Press. From 2017 to 2021 there have been 30 rapidly intensifying storms in the Atlantic and 32 in the Eastern Pacific."That's a staggering statistic," said former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate and hurricane scientist Jim Kossin, now with the private Climate Service, a risk analysis firm. "What used to be a very, very rare event obviously has not been rare lately."A new yet-to-be-published study in a peer-reviewed journal shows that as hurricanes near the coast -- a danger point for people -- storms are intensifying more quickly than ever before, said Karthik Balaguru, a Pacific Northwest National Lab climate scientist who conducted the study. "It's more likely because of climate change," he said.As water gets warmer at ever deeper levels, the rapid intensification of tropical storms will only accelerate."We're turning up the burner on a stove," said Kossin.More powerful hurricanes hold more moisture, which makes them more explosive in the form of torrential rains and storm surges, experts say.As if that weren't bad enough, research also shows that storms now tend to move more slowly, allowing them to dump more rain in one place, like 2017's Hurricane Harvey, which devastated parts of Louisiana and Texas.While Ian is expected to slow near the Florida coast and dump huge amounts of rain it is not expected to be near Harvey's level of more than 50 inches.As storms intensify more rapidly and more frequently, forecasters and emergency planners are given less time to help communities prepare for the worst.Jefferson Parish, a region of 430,000 people west of New Orleans, got hit last year by Hurricane Ida. That storm's winds went from 80 mph (130 kilometers per hour) to nearly 140 mph (220 kilometers per hour) in 24 hours, leaving little time to evacuate residents."Time in preparing for a storm is your complete ally," said Joseph Valiente, the director of emergency management for Jefferson Parish.Evacuating people ahead of big storms helps relieve the strain on city services, which ultimately helps a city recover faster, Valiente said.Copyright © 2022 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. | Climate Change |
Another day, another deadline: To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, greenhouse gas emissions must peak “at the latest before 2025,” according to the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. This is how we live now—not in the Biblical end times, but in a permanent “time of the end,” in the words of 20th-century German Jewish philosopher Günther Anders. Between the possibility of nuclear war and the forward march of climate change, for at least 70 years a distinctly secular apocalypse has always seemed just around the corner. Time itself is one of the victims.Just take a look around: The mega-droughts, wildfires, and category-busting hurricanes we see today are the result of emissions past—a hauntological quirk of the carbon cycle. The acute stress of the Covid-19 pandemic slowed time for some, while for others things sped up—both natural responses, psychologists say, to the immense stress of lockdown. News of the war in Ukraine, which once might have arrived in a morning paper or nightly program, is transmitted through our screens 24/7. And TikTok trends move at the speed of a micro-video, pulling fast fashion and even fast furniture along with it. Everywhere, the past, present, and future appear to be collapsing into each other.Speed has been the name of the game since the Industrial Revolution, according to the German political scientist Hartmut Rosa, author of Social Acceleration: A New Theory of Modernity. For centuries, Westerners have bought into the narrative that “we can overcome material scarcity through economic growth, scarcity of time through faster technologies, and a better, free life through changes in science and politics,” he said in 2015. People are pushed to pack in more labor, more consumption, more everything. Yet the more we cram, the less those experiences register in our minds and memories, leading to a profound sense of alienation.Now, time is not only accelerating; for many, the future also feels foreclosed. In a 2021 survey of more than 10,000 young people in 10 countries, more than half agreed that “humanity is doomed” and many described the sense that they have no future. Individualized “eco-anxiety” and “climate grief,” while real and potent, are not the only consequences of this change in tempo. It’s modern liberal democracy that is struggling to keep a hold on its authority and imagine a future for everyone. What citizens do with their changed relationship to time is sure to have profound effects for governments around the globe.Conceptions of time have changed dramatically across human history, from cyclical to linear, religious to secular. But “scientific” time, based on a traditional Newtonian conception of time’s arrow moving forward at a regimented speed, is the timepiece of modernity, of capitalism, and of liberal democracy. While more recent physics research has challenged this premise, “clock time” is still used to structure our electoral cycles, prison sentences, immigration policies, and more, says political philosopher Elizabeth Cohen, author of The Political Value of Time. In this context, time is not an inert substance, but the very soil from which democracy springs.Many wealthy countries, however, are increasingly post-clock. Instead, people’s day-to-day lives operate on “network time,” says Robert Hassan, a professor of media and communication at the University of Melbourne and author of Empires of Speed. Since the 1960s, networked computing, which makes everything from social media to Zoom calls possible, has allowed for a kind of connectivity that collapses both space and time. The result is that democratic politics seems interminably slow relative to the pace of commerce and culture, and people’s dual identities as citizens and consumers feel more and more at odds.The itch to press fast-forward on politics may be one reason 40 percent of Americans—54 percent of the Republicans surveyed and 31 percent of Democrats—say they would support a military coup in a hypothetical scenario where “there is a lot of corruption” in government. Other models of governance, from illiberal democracy to fascism, can act much more decisively, which holds obvious appeal in our deadlined moment. “Only an enlightened despot could push through the measures needed to navigate the 21st century safely,” British astronomer Martin Rees has written. Younger people feel it, too: One of environmental science professor Sarah Jaquette Ray’s students “emailed me to say she was so distressed that she’d be willing to submit to a green dictator if they would address climate change,” Ray wrote in Scientific American last year.But good decision-making—the kind democracy intends to elicit—takes time. A lot of it. Bills must be read, ideally in full, and debated. Citizens deserve time between elections to reflect on the future they want. Politicians should be afforded patience as they try to enact their campaign promises. And history shows us despots are rarely enlightened. While authoritarian environmentalism “may excel at producing policies, [it appears to] be no better than democratic environmentalism at producing good outcomes,” according to The Economist. In China, for example, the Communist Party’s “policy output has been prolific,” yet its actions are inconsistent with its stated goals. As of 2021, the country is constructing coal plants in 60 new locations to avoid power shortages; if used as intended, the plants will remain active into the 2050s. | Climate Change |
In a summer in which climate change has left its mark on the Northern Hemisphere. California is expected to begin another record-breaking heat wave on Wednesday with temperatures forecast to hit 115 degrees Fahrenheit inland over Labor Day weekend.Computer modeling conducted last week accurately predicted that a heat dome would park itself over Central and Southern California for days on end, bringing triple digit temperatures to much of the state.Latest model runs are showing the potential for a significant, prolonged heatwave to begin September in California.This strong of a heat dome would easily bring California's most severe heatwave of the summer while also rapidly increasing fire danger. Stay tuned.#CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/LvbLzXhGwd— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) August 27, 2022And in states like Texas, which has endured punishing stretches of extreme heat this summer, officials are warning that California's power grid could suffer outages and see Flex Alerts, when consumers are asked to conserve energy at night, as demand for electricity surges in the coming days.A general view of a drought-stricken Shasta Lake, California, U.S., August 18, 2022. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)“If weather or grid conditions worsen, the ISO [California's Independent System Operator] may issue a series of emergency notifications to access additional resources and prepare market participants and the public for potential energy shortages and the need to conserve,” ISO officials warned in a statement issued Tuesday night. “The power grid operator expects to call on Californians for voluntary energy conservation via Flex Alerts over the long weekend.”California utility company Pacific Gas & Electric posted tips on how to "lower AC costs and still stay cool indoors during the prolonged heat" that included adjusting home thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, closing window shades in the afternoon, and avoiding cooking using an oven.California's grid operator urged the state's 40 million people to ratchet down the use of electricity in homes and businesses as a wave of extreme heat settled over much of the state, near Tracy, California, U.S., August 17, 2022. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)As Californians have learned through repeated experience in recent years, prolonged hot weather also means an increased risk of wildfires. The current heat wave is no exception, with virtually all of the state in the midst of "severe drought," and many regions classified as experiencing "extreme" or "exceptional" drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.“High Risk conditions anticipated across the region. Gustier wind periods, Heat Wave characteristics such as near record or record temps as well as a strong mid-level dry intrusion, intense thermal belts, very flammable live/dead fuels and extended burn periods.” #CAwx #FireWX pic.twitter.com/wkMouesqCj— Michael Steinberg (@MichaelWX18) August 31, 2022The National Weather Service posted an "excessive heat warning" Wednesday, cautioning Northern California residents, especially those who live in inland areas, that there will be "very high risk of heat stress or illness" for the "entire population," and warned people to "avoid being outdoors in the sun" between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the hottest days.Sacramento, the state capital, is approaching a record for the number of days with temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit and higher, and is expected to hit 112 degrees on Labor Day, which would be a record high.Wildfires and severe drought have emerged as a growing threat, near Sacramento, California, U.S., August 18, 2022. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)So far this summer Sacramento has recorded 34 days of temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. “The most we’ve ever seen was 41 days, and that was set in 1988,” Katrina Hand, a meteorologist at the Sacramento NWS, told the Sacramento Bee. “So there’s a real good chance we’ll tie that or exceed that record for days above 100 degrees — at least for the downtown Sacramento area.”The most extreme heat of this latest wave is likely to hit the southern part of the state, with temperatures expected to reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit in the Inland Empire and into the triple digits in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.⚠️ An Excessive Heat Warning has been posted for a large portion of northern California. A prolonged period of dangerous heat will affect the region over the Labor Day weekend into next week. Be prepared! 🥵 #CAwx pic.twitter.com/0CbTI5Ivj1— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) August 31, 2022Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, when mankind began pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate, average summer temperatures in California have risen by roughly 3 degrees Fahrenheit, according to data from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. More than half of that increase has occurred since the early 1970s, Scripps says on its website, as the greenhouse effect has steadily worsened as humans have continued to burn fossil fuels. | Climate Change |
Hurricane Ian has already caused at least 34 deaths, and early numbers suggest that financial losses could hit $40 billion. But these numbers tell only part of the story. What they don’t reveal is how Ian will lead to growing inequality, and heighten racial disparities.Research from across the United States shows that climate-related disasters have made our communities more unequal. Put another way, climate change is increasingly becoming a cause of inequality. Part of the problem is our existing recovery policies, which do not distribute post-disaster aid in fair or equitable ways. For example, Black households affected by disasters have often received less aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency compared with their white counterparts, and in communities that have gotten more FEMA aid, the racial wealth gap has grown. More recovery dollars have been invested in white communities, which has helped housing values bounce back there. These disparities stem, in part, from different rates of post-disaster property inspections conducted by FEMA across racial groups, as well as the burden of the application process in applying aid. Overall, more recovery dollars have been invested in white communities, which has helped housing values bounce back there. Typically, home values decline in the immediate aftermath of a flood. After Superstorm Sandy hit New York, there were large drops in home values for properties that flooded. Even properties that didn’t flood during the storm but were in nearby flood zones saw a significant decrease in values, demonstrating how the housing market can be quite reactive to climate-related disasters. But the negative impact of disasters on home prices is not experienced evenly. Lower-priced homes see more precipitous drops in value, as do homes in higher-poverty neighborhoods and in neighborhoods with fewer white residents. And these values stay lower for longer.Losing home value can have devastating consequences. It leaves homeowners at greater risk of foreclosure and with less ability to borrow, which can even affect their children’s education, since many families rely on home equity to finance college.Ultimately, lowered home values mean less wealth to pass on to future generations. If Florida’s nonwhite communities see their home values lowered more steeply and for longer time periods than their white counterparts do, Hurricane Ian will exacerbate an already wide racial wealth gap.As home values are further affected by climate-related disasters, that will also shape who can most easily move away from vulnerable locations. Lower home values are associated with lower mobility, since they can make it challenging to pay off the existing mortgage and cover a new down payment. So homeowners in Florida’s most vulnerable Black and Latino neighborhoods will likely have less ability to sell and move after Hurricane Ian.At the same time, it’s likely that insurance premiums will increase, creating more financial strain and forcing households to make trade-offs in how they spend their money. When homeowners are underinsured or not insured at all, it also makes it incredibly difficult to repair a home with significant wind or flood damage. (In Florida counties in the path of Hurricane Ian, less than 48 percent of homeowners in the federally designated floodplain have flood insurance coverage.) In general, residents who have higher valued homes are more likely to purchase flood insurance. This means many homeowners in disadvantaged neighborhoods are less likely to be insured and will have far fewer resources to repair their homes, another reason home values will remain low even if values in the broader community rebound. This is what we found in Friendswood, Texas, a middle-class, majority-white suburb of Houston that flooded during Hurricane Harvey. We interviewed dozens of homeowners over the two years following the storm. Only about half of the flooded homeowners we spoke to had insurance when Harvey struck, in part because they had scant information about their risk. As a result, some could not fund their repairs and were still living without floors or interior walls two years after the storm. These residents felt stuck relative to neighbors who had insurance. Some wanted to move away from Friendswood — which they believed would flood again — but could not afford to.Indeed, homeowners whose home values rebound more quickly — again, those in whiter and wealthier communities — can more easily sell their homes and move away from vulnerable places. So as wealthier homeowners move into less vulnerable — and previously less desirable — inland communities, we may see more climate gentrification, with longtime residents of these safer locales displaced. Put another way, the growing inequality spurred by disasters is multifaceted and long-term. First, there have been racial and class disparities in FEMA assistance and differences in the impact on home values. And then, there may be a second phase of growing inequality if more resourced households move away from vulnerable homes and push out less affluent residents in inland communities.Without changes to make current recovery policies more equitable, including strategic large-scale investments in managed retreat from vulnerable places, climate-related disasters like Hurricane Ian are increasingly going to be a cause of inequality, driving differences in wealth, mobility and vulnerability in future disasters. | Climate Change |
A firefighter tries to extinguish a wildfire burning in Pallini, near Athens, Greece July 20, 2022. REUTERS/Stelios MisinasRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comATHENS/LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - A wildfire fuelled by gale-force winds raged in mountains near Athens on Wednesday, forcing hundreds including hospital patients to evacuate, as Britain counted the cost of its hottest ever day.Wildfires have ravaged Europe this month, breaking out in Greece, France, Spain, Turkey, Italy and Portugal and fuelled by increasingly hot and dry weather that scientists link to climate change.Thick clouds of smoke darkened the sky over Mount Penteli 27 km (16 miles) north of Greece's capital, where close to 500 firefighters, 120 fire engines and 15 water-carrying planes tried to contain the flames.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe blaze, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon, continued to burn on several fronts on Wednesday.Authorities said they evacuated nine settlements. One hospital and the National Observatory of Athens were also evacuated and police helped at least 600 residents out of fire-stricken areas."It was a difficult night," said Fire Department spokesperson Yiannis Artopios in a televised statement, adding that wind speeds exceeded 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour. Strong winds were forecast to persist until Wednesday afternoon."Due to the intensity and speed of the winds, the fire constantly changed direction throughout the night," he said.Last year, wildfires ravaged about 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) of forest and bushland in different parts of Greece as the country experienced its worst heatwave in 30 years.In France, where firefighters in the southwestern Gironde region have been battling since July 12 to contain huge forest fires, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said more money needed to be invested to tackle such threats. read more "We are having to confront a quite exceptional situation," he said, referring to damage caused in Brittany and southern France. President Emmanuel Macron was due to visit the Gironde region on Wednesday.In Britain, firefighters worked through the night to damp down wildfires and engineers raced on Wednesday to fix train tracks that buckled in the heat as residents woke up to the aftermath of a day when temperatures topped 40C for the first time. read more "This is a reminder today, I think, of the importance of tackling climate change because this is a remarkable unprecedented event," Treasury Minister Simon Clarke said.The London Fire Brigade endured its busiest day since World War Two on Tuesday as fires destroyed dozens of properties in the capital and sent flames racing through tinderbox-dry grassland at the sides of railway tracks and roads.Trains running from London up the east coast of England were cancelled at least until midday on Wednesday after a fire near the city of Peterborough in central England damaged signalling equipment. Other fires on the network damaged tracks and overhead lines.The weather also played havoc with transportation networks in Germany, where water levels on the river Rhine fell further, navigation authorities said on Wednesday. That was forcing cargo vessels to sail with significantly reduced loads and hampering shipping on the entire river in Germany south of Duisburg, they said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Renee Maltezou, Angeliki Koutantou, Karolina Tagaris and Vassilis Triandafyllou
in Athens; Dominique Vidalon and Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris; Kate Holton and William James in London and Michael Hogan in Hamburg
Writing by John Stonestreet; Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comISLAMABAD, Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday visited several areas of Pakistan ravaged by floods, calling for increased global financial support at the end of a two-day trip aimed at raising awareness of the disaster.Record monsoon rains and glacier melt in northern mountains have triggered floods that have killed more than 1,391 people, sweeping away houses, roads, railway tracks, bridges, livestock and crops.Pakistan estimates the damage at $30 billion, and both the government and Guterres have blamed the flooding on climate change.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"Today it's Pakistan, tomorrow it could be your country wherever you live. This is a global crisis ... it requires a global response," Guterres told a news conference at the end of his visit.Huge areas of the country are still under water and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes. The government says the lives of nearly 33 million people have been disrupted.Residents and health workers are becoming concerned about rising numbers of children suffering from gastroenteritis and other illnesses, with many forced to drink contaminated flood water. read more After flying over vast swathes of inundated land, Guterres met people displaced by flooding in southern Pakistan."Unimaginable," he said as he surveyed the devastation from the air, seated next to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in footage shared by the country's information minister.Residents use boats as they travel to their flooded villages, following rains and floods during the monsoon season on the outskirts of Sehwan, Pakistan September 8, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File PhotoSpeaking to reporters later in the southern city of Karachi, Guterres said the international community needed to do more to help countries hit hardest by the effects of climate change, starting with Pakistan."I have seen many disasters around the world but I have never seen climate carnage of this scale," he said.RECONSTRUCTION PLANGuterres said that as well as climate financing to help countries recover and adapt, G20 nations should boost their national greenhouse gas emission reduction targets every year.He also called for new mechanisms for debt relief for climate-vulnerable countries such as Pakistan and said he was advocating for debt swaps in which the debtor nation, instead of continuing to make external debt payments, would make payments to finance climate projects at home."It is a question of justice, Pakistan is paying the price of something that was created by others," he said.U.N. agencies have begun work on assesing the nation's needs to create a post-disaster reconstruction plan."Recovery and reconstruction must be climate resilient, it must start as soon as possible," said Knut Ostby, U.N. Development Programme Resident Representative in Pakistan told Reuters in a statement.In July and August, Pakistan got 391 mm (15.4 inches) of rain, or nearly 190% more than the 30-year average. The southern province of Sindh has seen 466% more rain than average.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Charlotte Greenfield in Kabul
Writing by Alasdair Pal
Editing by William Mallard and Helen PopperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Nearly every day, Florida resident Pradeepa Siva goes paddleboarding through Doctors Pass in Naples. The thin passageway between Moorings Bay and the Gulf of Mexico is home to a couple of friendly dolphins, which Siva often sees on her outings.But the journey is about more than exercise and wildlife sightings, because when Siva paddleboards she is also participating in a government-funded science project aimed at protecting public health. As climate change brings warming ocean waters, predictions of a dangerous phenomenon known as “red tide” are on the rise.Red tides occur when warming waters and other factors spur the growth of a type of rust-colored alga known as Karenia brevis. The alga produces toxic compounds that are harmful to humans as well as dolphins, manatees, shellfish and other sea life. Exposure to the organism can cause respiratory illnesses and other problems for people who are exposed, and, in rare occasions, be debilitating or even fatal.Siva knows how frightening it can be to be exposed to red tide. “You can’t breathe,” she said. “You start coughing – like choking, coughing.”One of the largest red tide events in Florida was recorded in 2014, when water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico surged to record highs and the harmful algal bloom stretched 90 miles long and 60 miles wide.Another red tide outbreak that began in late 2017 persisted for 16 months, affecting Florida’s south-west, north-west, and east coasts at the same time.The threat is not just to health: scores of businesses were shuttered in multiple Florida communities along the state’s south-west coast due to the 2017-2019 red tide outbreak, with estimated losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.As ocean surface waters are forecast to continue to warm, potentially larger and more dangerous red tide events loom as well as blooms of other types of harmful algae. Toxic blooms have been seen in Australia, South Africa and Japan, and coastal regions around the world now face the risk of “unprecedented diversity and frequency” of these events, according to the US National Office for Harmful Algal Blooms.Though algae are important to sustain marine life, some algae produce toxins. When they overpopulate amid fast growth, they pose a public health risk. These blooms are not always red, but can also be blue or green. They can be found in freshwater as well as saltwater, and in Florida, peak season often occurs in late summer or early fall.Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, has set up a red tide taskforce and the state has allocated more than $40m since 2019 to addressing red tide.Citizen scientistsIn an effort to address the threat, last year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) launched the Red Tide Respiratory Forecast, an online map that shows the presence and severity of red tide at select locations. People can use the map to check safety conditions before swimming or fishing or engaging in other activities in the water. The warning system is especially important during peak bloom season from August to December.The project is operated as a partnership between Noaa and the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWC-FWRI) and Pinellas county environmental management.Chris Holland, an NCCOS oceanographer, analyzes water samples on Venice Beach, Florida. Photograph: NoaaThe project is part of a nationwide effort to improve monitoring of, and response to, harmful algal blooms along US coasts.“The need was clearly there, because people were getting sick,” said Richard Stumpf, Noaa oceanographer and principal investigator for the Red Tide Respiratory Forecast, which transitioned from an experimental project to fully operational last year. “And businesses were hurt badly.”The forecast tool looks to a community of citizen science volunteers such as Siva who collect water samples from the ocean to contribute to the database. Last year, more than 5,400 water samples were uploaded by volunteers from 89 different sites.“We don’t yet have every beach every day, which is our goal,” Stumpf said. “But we can potentially achieve that with the volunteers. That’s a huge, huge advantage to having those community volunteers.”For Siva, the work is relatively simple: she bring two small vials with her when she paddleboards, collecting samples of seawater. When she gets home, Siva pours the samples on to a slide for a portable microscope. The device connects to an iPod, which Siva uses to take a 30-second video of each sample. She then upload the videos to a central server that automatically analyzes the footage for the presence of the toxic algae.Expanding for Spanish speakersThe danger associated with bloom conditions can vary dramatically hour to hour, and beach to beach, making frequent, hyper-localized data like that of the Red Tide Respiratory Forecast essential to protect public health, scientists say.Until this year, the Red Tide Respiratory Forecast was only presented in English, but recently was made available in Spanish in recognition of growing diversity in the area.“The translation is a recognition that there are large communities in south Florida that are more fluent in Spanish than in English,” Stumpf said.Nearly a quarter of Florida’s population are native Spanish speakers, and as red tide monitoring technology continues to evolve and improve, advocates say that it is essential to make this critical public health information accessible to these communities. The Florida department of health has information about red tide on their website – but still only in English.Maria Revelles, director of the Chispa Florida environmental justice organization, said government-backed tools such as the red tide map need to be more accessible to non-English speaking populations.“I think that the conversation is limited, and especially absent in minority communities,” Revelles said. “We need to talk to Black and brown communities, because they are the ones that are hit every day, so they are the ones that probably have answers,” Revelles said.The Noaa red tide mapping project is similar to a program in Sweden launched in 2005 to monitor for cyanobacteria blooms around the popular resort island of Öland in the Baltic for about a decade.“There are very few citizen science programs for harmful algal blooms,” said Stumpf. “The hope is that more will appear,” he said.This story is co-published with The New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group. | Climate Change |
The “bowling green” lawn will soon be a thing of the past thanks to climate change, horticultural experts are warning. It won’t be global warming that puts paid to the well-manicured lawn so much as unpredictable weather patterns that alternate prolonged drought with periods of heavy rain. After the wettest year on record many lawns are not just soggy but overgrown, as gardeners have preferred to stay indoors. But just nine months ago Britain had been in drought for nearly two years and lawns were threatened not by too much water but but widespread hosepipe bans. Richard Bisgrove, a garden historian, says that people will have to give up the dream of a perfect lawn and be prepared to adapt to changing conditions. Professor Bisgrove | Climate Change |
Images from behind the cordon at a village in east London show the damage and devastation caused by the fire which broke out during last week's heatwave. On Tuesday, which was the hottest day ever in the UK, several houses were destroyed and others were severely damaged in Wennington after grass fires broke out, engulfing properties, as black smoke billowed into the air.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) sent 15 fire engines and about 100 firefighters to the area to deal with blazes that covered a number of buildings and grassland.Fire officials have told Sky News that some of the people whose homes have been destroyed are still on holiday and so haven't yet seen what remains of their homes.The area has been cordoned off since the fire broke out, but residents will be allowed back later on Sunday. Sky News correspondent Ivor Bennett was shown around the area before officials lifted the cordon.
Although it has now been five days since the fire, the LFB delayed access to the village due to the threat of reignition. More on London Man in his 50s stabbed to death in London pub London 'working on plan' to bring Olympics and Paralympics back to capital making it 'greenest Games ever' Man guilty of murder after battering Agnes Akom to death with power tool in shipping container Firefighters have spent the last five days damping down the embers and the ashes to ensure there are no lingering hotspots which could start the fire again. Footage showed one house with the roof completely destroyed and several properties were left uninhabitable, with only the brick structure remaining.While others had blown-out windows, walls cracked by intense heat and buildings reduced to rubble. "The scale of destruction here is really quite unbelievable, like something out of a war zone or a disaster film rather than a village on the outskirts of East London."Yet here we are looking at complete devastation," said Ivor Bennett. The pictured crack in the brickwork is called spalling and is caused by extreme heatNear a local church, the blaze charred the grass while safety barriers still remain in the scene. "As you can see they are completely gutted, what's left in there is just a pile of rubble, a few charred rafters - in here you can see a bathtub, the remains of an ironing board a few radiators - completely charred."Inside you can just see right through to the field beyond and and if you look up well, there's nothing but sky, no roof at all remains," Ivor Bennett added. Up to 20 families were affected by the house fires in Wennington.Several other fires broke out across London and England, on a day when temperatures surpassed 40C.Firefighters were inundated with calls all around the country, with one fire chief calling the "brutal" day a "game-changer" and a preview of the effects of climate change. Paul McClenaghan, the Havering borough commander for London Fire Brigade, told Sky News the blaze was "unprecedented"."We've had grass fires for years, you know, we've always dealt with them, but this was unprecedented, it's involved buildings. It's something you wouldn't expect."We see it in France, we see in Spain, places like that... but all of a sudden now you're looking across this scene."Asked if it could happen again Mr McCleneghan said: "Of course. If it's happened once. Yeah, definitely." Havering council leader Ray Morgon told Sky News: "I've never seen anything like it in my whole life and I do not want to see anything like this again. But sadly, because of climate change, this may well happen again."We obviously need to start making some changes to our lifestyle and the way everybody operates in order to perhaps mitigate the chances of this happening again," Mr Morgon added."On this occasion, we had extreme heat, but in Havering in the past, we have had severe floods. And of course, we've also had the storms, we had some quite severe storms earlier in the year."So our climate is changing, weather is becoming more extreme, therefore we need to start making some changes to deal with that." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Helicopter footage shows Wennington in flames Read more:Families left counting cost of 'devastating' house firesUK's hottest-ever day leaves charred remainsThe Met Office said 34 observation sites across England provisionally broke previous records, from Bramham in West Yorkshire to Charlwood in Surrey.The London Fire Brigade said it was their busiest day since the Second World War. | Climate Change |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Air pollution is spiking across Britain, France, and southern Europe amid record-breaking temperatures and scorching wildfires.Scientists with the EU Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) warned on Tuesday of unhealthy levels of ozone pollution across southern and western Europe which could soon affect northwestern regions.The World Health Organization has set an eight-hour surface-level ozone exposure limit of 100 micrograms per cubic meter. Southeast England, northern France, and the Benelux region are all currently seeing daily concentrations greater than 120 micrograms.HERE ARE THE HEALTH RISKS OF EXTREME HEAT"The air quality impacts are not negligible in relation to this heatwave," said Mark Parrington, senior scientist with CAMS.Ozone pollution forms when heat and sunlight interact with greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds released during the burning of fossil fuels.Ozone production accelerates during a heatwave, Parrington said, as these chemical reactions happen faster. A helicopter tackles a fire at the Valmediano eolic park, following the wildfires across the province of Zamora, on the second heatwave of the year, in Spain, July 19, 2022. Scientists say ozone pollution will increase under climate change. Global temperatures are now about 1.2C above pre-industrial levels and heatwaves have become more frequent and more severe.Surface-level ozone is known to worsen respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, and has been linked to increased mortality rates.Long-term exposure to ozone pollution is responsible for 55,000 premature deaths annually in Europe, according to a 2019 study in the journal Environmental Research Letters.The study found that ozone pollution-associated mortality could be 11% higher in some central and southern European countries in 2050 due to climate change. However, if emissions of greenhouse gases are slashed, ozone-related deaths are projected to decline.Wildfire DangerOzone pollution isn't the only air quality concern. Wildfires raging across Portugal, Spain and France in recent days have released choking smoke containing fine, inhalable particulate matter known as PM 2.5."Smoke particles are one of the most toxic forms of particles we can generate," said Athanasios Nenes, an atmospheric chemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. "When you breathe them, they increase your chance of getting all kinds of cancers."EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE: UK BREAKS RECORDSThose already suffering from cardiovascular or respiratory illnesses are also at a greater risk of flare-ups.In a June 2022 study, University of Southern California researchers found that while days with extreme heat or extreme particulate air pollution resulted in a 5% to 6% increase in mortality risk, deaths were 21% more likely on days that saw simultaneous extremes, associated with wildfires."We need to think about combining public health alerts for air pollution and heat," said co-author Erika Garcia, a public health scientist at USC. "A day with exposure to both extremes is much more harmful than a day with just one." | Climate Change |
Jacinda Ardern's government proposes taxing cow burps in a bid to fight climate changeNew Zealand to introduce emissions tax on agricultural farmsJacinda Ardern confirmed plan to combat the highly-polluting industry Farmers will have to report stock, cattle and nitrogen fertilser use Published: 00:39 EDT, 11 October 2022 | Updated: 00:39 EDT, 11 October 2022 New Zealand's government has proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change.The government said the farm levy would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products.But farmers quickly condemned the plan. Federated Farmers, the industry's main lobby group, said the plan would 'rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand' and see farms replaced with trees.Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard said farmers had been trying to work with the government for more than two years on an emissions reduction plan that wouldn't decrease food production.'Our plan was to keep farmers farming,' Hoggard said. Instead, he said farmers would be selling their farms 'so fast you won´t even hear the dogs barking on the back of the ute (pickup truck) as they drive off.'Opposition lawmakers from the conservative ACT Party said the plan would actually increase worldwide emissions by moving farming to other countries that were less efficient at making food.FILE - Dairy cows graze on a farm near Oxford, in the South Island of New Zealand on Oct. 8, 2018. New Zealand's government on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022 proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)New Zealand´s farming industry is vital to its economy. Dairy products, including those used to make infant formula in China, are the nation´s largest export earner.There are just 5 million people in New Zealand but some 10 million beef and dairy cattle and 26 million sheep.The outsized industry has made New Zealand unusual in that about half of its greenhouse gas emissions come from farms. Farm animals produce gasses that warm the planet, particularly methane from cattle burps and nitrous oxide from their urine.The debate in New Zealand is part of a broader global reckoning about farming's impact on the environment and the steps some say are needed for mitigation.In the Netherlands, farmers have dumped hay bales on roads and driven tractors along busy highways to protest government proposals to slash emissions of damaging pollutants.In New Zealand, the government has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the country carbon neutral by 2050. Part of that plan includes a pledge that it will reduce methane emissions from farm animals by 10% by 2030 and by up to 47% by 2050.Under the government's proposed plan, farmers would start to pay for emissions in 2025, with the pricing yet to be finalized.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said all the money collected from the proposed farm levy would be put back into the industry to fund new technology, research and incentive payments for farmers.'New Zealand's farmers are set to be the first in the world to reduce agricultural emissions, positioning our biggest export market for the competitive advantage that brings in a world increasingly discerning about the provenance of their food,' Ardern said.Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said it was an exciting opportunity for New Zealand and its farmers.'Farmers are already experiencing the impact of climate change with more regular drought and flooding,' O'Connor said. 'Taking the lead on agricultural emissions is both good for the environment and our economy.'The liberal Labour government's proposal harks back to a similar but unsuccessful proposal made by a previous Labour government in 2003 to tax farm animals for their methane emissions.Farmers back then also vehemently opposed the idea, and political opponents ridiculed it as a 'fart tax' - although a 'burp tax' would have been more technically accurate as most of the methane emissions come from belching. The government eventually abandoned the plan.According to opinion polls, Ardern´s Labour Party has slipped in popularity and fallen behind the main opposition National Party since Ardern won a second term in 2020 in a landslide victory of historic proportions.If Ardern's government can't find agreement on the proposal with farmers, who have considerable political sway in New Zealand, it's likely to make it more difficult for Ardern to win reelection next year when the nation goes back to the polls. New Zealand to introduce a new emissions tax on its agricultural farmers who are responsible for more than half its carbon footprint The scheme, to start in 2025, asks farmers to report their stock, dairy cattle and synthetic nitrogen fertiliser use and pay a fee based on their emissions Advertisement | Climate Change |
The United Nations is calling for $160 million in emergency funding to help Pakistan cope with catastrophic flooding. The disaster has killed more than 1,160 people, displaced millions, destroyed roads and crops and left one-third of the country, an area the size of Colorado, under water. Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's minister of climate change, joined Nick Schifrin to discuss the ongoing disaster. Amna Nawaz: Now to Pakistan, where a torrential monsoon season accelerated by climate change has led to catastrophic flooding.One-third of the country, an area the size of Colorado, is underwater. At least 1,100 people are now dead and untold numbers have lost everything.Here now is Nick Schifrin with the top Pakistani official trying to manage the climate crisis. Nick Schifrin: The toll is staggering, a million homes damaged or destroyed, two million acres of agricultural land submerged, and 33 million people affectedTo discuss the enormity of what confronts Pakistan, we turn to Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's minister of climate change.Sherry Rehman, welcome back to the "NewsHour."Just explain the crisis and the size of the calamity.Sherry Rehman, Pakistani Minister of Climate Change: The scale of the crisis is unprecedented. It's of a magnitude never seen before in living history in Pakistan.It's affecting more than 33 million people, which is the size of a small country. Right now, as we speak, more than one-third of Pakistan is underwater, more than one-third. Nick Schifrin: Many people say that they have not received any assistance from either the government or from NGOs.How difficult is it to reach everyone? Sherry Rehman: We have not been able to reach people, at least in the first week of the deluge. And it's been eight weeks of unrelenting rain, which Pakistan has never seen.And the way to rescue people in floods and disasters always are helicopter cover. And they have just not been able to take off with the kind of rain and complete cloudbursts of water coming down. So, yes, there's been a complete humanitarian disaster.The water cover is so heavy and high in Sindh and Balochistan that we have had the Pakistan navy inside inland in the country. Now, the helis are operating and they're picking up people from rooftops, literally.So it's been very traumatic seeing bridges collapse in the north, seeing people isolated and marooned on rooftops. We have had like over 160 bridges just collapse, and the water just rip through it. It's a real climate disaster of epic proportions. Nick Schifrin: As you were just pointing out, many bridges have been destroyed, including bridges that Pakistan built higher after they were destroyed a decade ago during those floods.In retrospect, do you believe the government did enough after those floods in order to prepare for floods like you're facing today? Sherry Rehman: Well, I mean, where are you supposed to build the floods? On a skyscraper? I'm not aware of that.Climate — the climate decade of our reckoning is here and now, Nick. It's not 2050. That tipping point is absolutely visible to us. And I think many thresholds are being crossed, while global leaders dither over which emissions are good and which are not. It's time to make decisions. Otherwise, the — it won't just be Pakistan.Glaciers are also melting. By the way, this year, we have had three times as many glacial melt episodes added to the volume of water gushing down south, and send them below — actually embracing for the floods from the north. I really don't know how we will absorb this amount of rushing-in water over standing water right now. Nick Schifrin: Pakistan contributes less than 1 percent of global emissions.Do you believe that Pakistan and other countries like it are the victims of climate change mostly caused by richer countries? Sherry Rehman: I don't like to use the term victimhood. I'm a woman. So we like to ascribe some agency to ourselves.It's a clear case of loss and damage reparations, because this is the carbon footprint of other countries that have gotten rich on the back of fossil fuels. Really, we're paying the price for it, because we are on that front line of a geographical location. We are uniquely positioned. We have the highest number of glaciers outside the polar region. We have a huge river running through the country.We have the largest manmade irrigation system in the world. Honestly, the bargain made between the global south and north hasn't worked out as expected.We would love to switch to renewables just for our own import bills to be reduced and to be cleaner, to have cleaner fuel. But just that transition, I have had it calculated, would cost us $101 billion without the transmission line changes. Climate resilience costs money.And, right now, all the money basically is going into relief. Nick Schifrin: Pakistan has had a close partnership with the United States for many years. It is also a close partner of Beijing.What is your message to the world's two largest emitters today? Sherry Rehman: Well, yes, the two largest emitters really should stop and think. There's a new normal around the world. It's not a good one. It's a dystopic one.And so whatever goes down in one country will eventually impact on the other. But I have had a good conversation with Senator John Kerry, who's your climate czar. And we're perfectly committed to working together. And I believe that, if we all put our resources to the task of chipping away at joint problems, we can — we can meet the needs gap. Nick Schifrin: After the last floods from a decade ago, Pakistan created hydropower projects, some of which have come under criticism.So, do you believe that unplanned infrastructure projects have actually exacerbated the current crisis? Sherry Rehman: I'm not aware of which hydro project has exacerbated any condition.Having said that, certainly, some water architectural solutions, the entire architecture of our water, of our hydrology, perhaps needs a reset now to meet the kind of climate challenge we're seeing. But, I mean, wrapping one's head around that level of resource mobilization, I will be honest too. I can say to you that, oh, we will build back better.I'm not sure we have the resources. Climate resilience is an expensive business. The maximum will go to agriculture. There is a little bit drought resistance. For instance, our entire crop cover — and 90 percent of it certainly is gone for the year. Nick Schifrin: And so does that mean that this is not just a problem of today, that this is going to have an effect for many years to come? Sherry Rehman: I think we have got ourselves a very large task, as well as a large ask from development partners.Now, if they're not able to meet it, then I don't know how we will be able to service a large population, which has lost most of his employment. The next crop is also wiped out because there's too much standing water, and the soil is not going to be ready for what is known as the Rabi, or the winter planting season.We do have a crisis. Nick Schifrin: Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's climate minister, thank you very much. | Climate Change |
An aerial view shows Namatakula village behind the eroded beach, in Namatakula, Coral Coast, Fiji July 9, 2022. REUTERS/Jill GralowRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNAMATAKULA, Fiji, July 25 (Reuters) - The white sands of Namatakula have nurtured generations of world-class rugby talent but rising sea levels threaten to force the abandonment of the palm-fringed village on Fiji's Coral Coast within a few years.The village is deemed "at risk" by Fiji's government and headman Josevata Nagausaukula contemplates a future in which children now honing their rugby skills have been shifted, with their families, to higher ground inland."I'm really worried. Because what's going to happen in a few years time? For our next generation. What's it going to be?" the 43-year-old told Reuters.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"Really worried about those who are coming up. Our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren. What are they going to face?"The beach where Lote Tuqiri and his cousin Tevita Kuridrani first developed the skills that would take them to international rugby stardom has been eroded to the point that boulders have had to be brought from the interior to shore it up."Before it was pure sand, just sand, no rocks," added Nagausaukula, holding a handful of stones. "It was a playground in here ... just because of climate change and the rising of sea levels it has been washed away."Rugby is close to a national obsession in Fiji, with more than 80,000 registered players among a population of 900,000 - one of the highest in the world pro rata.Just why Namatakula has produced so much talent is a mystery even to Inosi Kuridrani, an opposition member of parliament whose son Tevita was a fixture in Australia's rugby union team from 2013 to 2019."Almost every year a new player comes up," he said. "We don't know whether it's in the genes, it's in our biological characteristics or it's in the food or it's in the water."Many other players have represented their country in rugby union, rugby league or rugby Sevens, in which the Fijian men's team has won the only two Olympic gold medals.The players have mostly had to leave Namatakula to fulfil their talent but many send money back to their families and some, like former Australia international Tuqiri, return to build homes in the village."Rugby has contributed so much, not only (in) relation (to) sports, but for our economic achievement villages had and our social development," Kuridrani adds."They are part of our rugby."'WE DON'T WANT THAT'Village life is central to the identity of Fijians and the 600 residents of Namatakula are determined not to leave their home, where the daily kava-drinking ritual brings the community together."Maybe we are going to leave the church behind, our community hall behind," Nagausaukula said. "When we move to another site, maybe we're going to move with a new culture. We don't want that."Namatakula is not alone in being threatened by rising sea levels and the London School of Economics estimates that up to 1.7 million people in the Pacific region could be displaced by 2050 because of climate change.The villagers have pinned their hopes on plans to build a sea wall funded by the British High Commission, which would preserve the village and allow the children to continue to play rugby."There's no place like home, that's very simple," said Nagausaukula. "Namatakula, I call it, it's my home. There is no place like home."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jill Gralow; writing by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Thursday was the hottest day of the year so far as temperatures continued to soar across the UK.A high of 28.3C was recorded at Northolt, west London - and temperatures could still rise.
The previous high of 28.2C was recorded on Wednesday at Kew Gardens in west London.The record is expected to be broken again on Friday, when highs of 34C (93.2F) are forecast, prompting a Met Office to warn of a "rare" climate change event.This would make parts of the UK hotter than the Greek islands of Santorini, Mykonos and Zakynthos, Los Angeles and parts of Barbados. The Met Office and the UK Health Security Agency issued a level two heat health alert for a large part of southern and central England, with a level one alert in place for northern England.
A heatwave can be declared when the temperature is above a certain threshold for three consecutive days. More on Weather UK weather: Temperatures could soar above 30C across UK this week - how hot will it be near you? Weather: Britain set to be battered by 55mph gales as tropical storm tail-end passes Thunderstorm warning in place for UK as Met Office says some areas could be hit by flooding and lightning strikes Click here to see the weather forecast in your areaIn London, the threshold is 28C and if the temperature tops that mark on Thursday, a heatwave could be declared.Jason Kelly, deputy chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said; "The heat is a result of a mix of home-grown warming due to a high pressure over the southern half of the UK, as well as a southwesterly airflow bringing warm air, which has been over the continent through the week, across the country."The last time temperatures over 32C were recorded was on 20 July 2021.Temperatures of 33C or higher in June are rare, especially early in the month.The all-time temperature record for the UK is 38.7C (101.7F), set at Cambridge University on 25 July 2019. | Climate Change |
KLM airplanes are seen parked at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands April 2, 2020. REUTERS/Piroschka van de WouwRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesFirst such lawsuit against airline industry -NGOsClaim filed in Amsterdam by Dutch campaign groups, ClientEarth'Fly Responsibly' advertising campaign misleading-NGOsCase part of rising tide of climate litigationAMSTERDAM/LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - Environmental groups are suing the Dutch subsidiary of Air France KLM (AIRF.PA) over an advertising campaign they allege breaches European consumer law by misleading the public over how sustainable its flights are.Dutch campaigners Fossielvrij NL, supported by environmental law charity ClientEarth and Reclame Fossielvrij, on Wednesday filed the first lawsuit alleging greenwashing in the airline industry in the District Court of Amsterdam.KLM, which says it has invested millions of euros in a more sustainable fleet and is working towards the industry goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, met with the groups before the suit was filed, but failed to find a solution.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"It would certainly not be in our interests to misinform our customers. It’s our responsibility to make future travel as sustainable as possible," the airline said in a statement sent to Reuters. "We believe that our communications comply with the applicable legislation and regulations."Campaigners have launched hundreds of climate change-related suits against companies, governments and authorities to try to accelerate the world's shift to a low-carbon economy and fight an escalating climate crisis. read more "KLM has ... stuck by the false message that it is on the path to more sustainable flying," said Hiske Arts, a campaigner at Fossielvrij NL. "There is no way it can do this while planning continuous air traffic growth that will fuel the breakdown of our climate."Campaigners want to stop KLM's 'Fly Responsibly' adverts, alleging they violate the Dutch implementation of the EU's Unfair Consumer Practices Directive by giving the false impression its flights will not exacerbate the climate crisis.KLM launched the advertising campaign last December, urging customers to help pioneer a "sustainable future" for aviation by paying towards reforestation projects or by contributing to the cost of greener aviation fuels through its CO2ZERO offers, designed to help tackle flight-related carbon emissions.Campaign groups allege that aviation cannot be made sustainable quickly enough to meet global climate goals by replacing fossil jet fuel, improved engines, efficiencies or other future technologies and want a reduction in flights - a view echoed by a leading investor group in March. read more The Dutch court will decide whether the case can proceed before KLM has to file any defence, ClientEarth said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Kirstin Ridley, Simon Jessop and Anthony Deutsch; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHOSTENS, France, Aug 11 (Reuters) - France battled a "monster" wildfire raging for a third day near the wine-growing heartland of Bordeaux on Thursday, with no let-up in blistering temperatures likely before the weekend.More than 1,000 firefighters backed by water-bombing aircraft tried to contain the blaze in the southwestern Gironde region that has forced thousands of people from their homes, scorched 6,800 hectares of forest and destroyed houses."It's an ogre, it's a monster," Gregory Allione from the French firefighters body FNSPF told RTL radio.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWildfires have broken out across Europe this summer as successive heatwaves bake the continent and renew focus on climate change risks to industry and livelihoods.Firefighters said they had managed to save the village of Belin-Beliet, transformed into a ghost town after police told residents to evacuate as the flames approached.But the blaze reached the outskirts, leaving wrecked houses and charred tractors in its wake."We've been lucky. Our houses were saved. But you see the catastrophe all over there. Some houses could not be saved," said resident Gaetan, pointing to houses burnt to the ground."The fire arrived very violently and quickly in this area," said lieutenant colonel Arnaud Mendousse, a Gironde firefighter.General view of smoke and flames from the fire in Belin-Beliet, as wildfires continue to spread in the Gironde region of southwestern France, August 10, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane MaheJuliette Pilain, a 19-year-old student, was evacuated from Belin-Beliet on Wednesday. "I took two-three pieces of clothing, my ID papers, I had to leave my cat. They were closing the roads. But the volunteers said they would continue to leave water out for the animals."'WE'RE HEARTBROKEN'President Emmanuel Macron said European countries were coming to France's rescue. Two Greek tanker planes were arriving alongside two Swedish airtractors, 64 firefighters from Germany, 146 from Poland and more from Austria and Romania, his office added.More than 57,680 hectares have gone up in flames so far in France this year, nearly six times the full-year average for 2006-2021, data from the European Forest Fire Information System shows.French authorities said temperatures in the Gironde region would reach 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Thursday and stay high until Saturday.Firefighters warned of an "explosive cocktail" of weather conditions with wind and the tinder-box conditions helping fan the flames.The Gironde was hit by big wildfires in July which destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of forest and temporarily forced almost 40,000 people from their homes.Hostens mayor Jean-Louis Dartiailh described the past weeks as a disaster."The area is totally disfigured. We're heartbroken, we're exhausted," he told Radio Classique. "(This fire) is the final straw."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Manuel Ausloos and Stephane Mahe in Hostens, Layli Foroudi and Michel Rose in Paris, Christina Thykjaer in Madrid and Catarina Demony in Lisbon; writing by Richard Lough, Michel Rose, Ingrid Melander; editing by Jason Neely and Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! "CBS Mornings" pushed a recent study connecting climate change and hotter temperatures with childhood obesity rates in a ridiculed segment on Thursday.Co-host Nate Burleson introduced the study published in the journal "Temperature" that argued "climate change, specifically warmer temperatures is making our children more inactive and more obese."Burleson said the study found that children were 30% less "aerobically fit" than their parents and claimed hotter temperatures were preventing kids from exercising outside.Although the segment focused primarily on climate change, Burleson acknowledged that technology was likely a factor in rising childhood obesity cases. Childhood obesity rates increased in 2022. (iStock)CNN CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT POSTS (AND DELETES) TWEET CLAIMING REPUBLICANS ARE SPEEDING UP END OF THE WORLD "Now listen, it has been a lot hotter, and the weather has been crazy, but I think it also has to do with technology, you know. It’s one thing not to go outside, but these kids don’t go outside because they can stay inside and be on their phones, play video games, and be social without having to go outside and be social," Burleson said.Several Twitter users, however, attacked the segment for emphasizing "climate change" as a factor in childhood obesity without also recognizing coronavirus lockdowns."Do you think it could be... nah, couldn't be. Must be the climate change," Deseret News contributing writer Bethany Mandel joked.Hans Mahncke, co-host of "Truth Over News" on EpochTV, tweeted, "They made kids fat by shutting schools, playgrounds, parks and beaches. Predictably, they're now blaming ‘climate change.’ If there aren't severe penalties for the fraudsters who pushed lockdowns, it'll happen again.""Climate change? Ffs," National Review journalist Claude Thompson wrote. Studies have shown that school lockdowns had an effect on childhood obesity. (WCAT LLC)Former congresswoman Nan Hayworth tweeted, "NO. NO. NO. Many factors contribute to children's lack of fitness, but climate change is NOT one of them. This is propaganda that CBS, as with all ‘mainstream’ media, pushes to scare Americans into accepting Government intervention--at any cost!!--against climate *apocalypse*"Washington Free Beacon reporter Joe Gabriel Simonson attacked "CBS Mornings" directly for misrepresenting the study to push a climate agenda."[T]his seemed too insane even for left-wing climate scientists so I read the study summary. the authors don't blame climate change for children getting fatter, but that fat children may have a harder time dealing with climate change because fat people don't do as well in the heat," Simonson tweeted.NEW YORK TIMES COLUMN SUGGESTS DEMS SAVE ‘CIVILIZATION’ WITH CLIMATE PROVISIONS IN SPENDING BILL A study posted in the National Library of Medicine in July found that a "significant weight increase was reported in the majority of subjects," especially those with pre-existing weight issues, during coronavirus lockdowns. President Biden has announced a series of executive actions to combat climate change. (Noah Berger/AP)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPIt concluded, "Data analysis clearly demonstrated the detrimental impact of COVID-19 lockdown on children and adolescents’ body weight and BMI, children with pre-existing overweight/obesity being more at risk of gaining weight." Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @lmkornick. | Climate Change |
LONDON — Britain is currently a land of two parallel universes.In one, the country has been plunged into two days of brutal, extreme heat, smashing 360-year-old temperature records, sparking unprecedented wildfires and bringing daily life for many to a stultifying halt.In the other universe is the Conservative Party leadership contest — a realm where global warming is barely mentioned at all.The winner automatically becomes prime minister, following Boris Johnson’s scandal-prompted resignation this month, and will likely guide environmental policy for the world’s sixth-largest economy for years.Right now those vying to become prime minister are accused of ignoring climate change and this week's heat wave. In a vote Wednesday, the Conservative Party chose Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss as its two finalists, eliminating Penny Mordaunt.It’s “a leadership contest that’s out of touch with reality,” said Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, who rates some of the candidates’ promises on tax cuts as equally fantastical. “They just don’t want to talk about it because, inevitably, it’s going to involve some sacrifices and disruption for people.”Britain's foreign secretary, and leadership hopeful, Liz Truss during a Cabinet meeting at No. 10 Downing St. on Tuesday. Stefan Rousseau / AFP - Getty ImagesThe reason for this green equivocation isn't necessarily ideological but rather more likely electioneering, Bale and other experts say.Climate science denial is rare in mainstream British politics. And the remaining leadership candidates — Sunak and Truss — have all committed to keeping Britain's target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the same as Washington's.But like many in the right-of-center party, they have worried aloud about the supposed economic risks of being seen as too gung-ho on environmentalism. And that's in the rare moments they have discussed it at all.“If we go too hard and too fast” toward net zero “then we will lose people,” Sunak, the current front-runner, warned during an ITV News debate this week. Truss said she wanted to find better ways to achieve the goal that don't “harm people and businesses.” These candidates know that mainstream British voters really do worry about the environment, with only the economy and health care considered more important issues by the general public, according to a weekly survey by pollster YouGov.Unfortunately for the vast majority of the United Kingdom’s 48 million registered voters, they have no say in choosing their next leader. The winner will instead be selected by the 350-odd lawmakers and 200,000 members of the ruling Conservative Party.That’s less than 0.3% of the population, a tiny subset that skews way to the right of the British political center. Conservative members are 97% white — around 10% higher than the rest of the U.K. — and they tend to be richer, older men living in the affluent southeast.Few prioritize reducing carbon emissions, with just 4 percent deeming net zero the most important task for their incoming leader, another YouGov poll found this week. The highest priority was simply beating the opposition Labour Party at the next election, the poll conducted for Britain’s The Times newspaper said.Many economists, climate scientists and activists say this is a false dichotomy between climate and economy: If there's anything wrecking the economy, it's the too-slow progress on stemming the climate crisis.That reality came crashing into the foreground for Britain this week as it broke its temperature record, topping 104 degrees Fahrenheit Tuesday, making it hotter than 98% of the planet.Much of this typically mild archipelago with scant air conditioning was brought to a standstill. The government advised people to stay indoors and millions drew their curtains in a fruitless attempt to keep the heat out. Many live in brick, terraced houses built in the 1800s that are designed to stay warm, not cool. | Climate Change |
An aerial view shows a deforested plot of the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Bruno KellyRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Industrial-scale mining for materials such as coal, gold, and iron ore is spurring tropical deforestation, with once-impenetrable forest cleared for mines and access roads, new research shows.In the first study to quantify the impact of industrial mining on tropical forest loss, an international team of scientists found that just four countries are largely to blame: Brazil, Indonesia, Ghana and Suriname.Together, the four forest-rich nations accounted for roughly 80% of tropical deforestation caused by large-scale mining operations from 2000 to 2019, according to the study published on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWhile at least 70% of deforestation is done to clear land for agriculture, the scientists called out industrial mining as an emerging concern due to the growing global appetite for minerals used in clean-energy technologies to combat climate change."The energy transition is going to require very large amounts of minerals - copper, lithium, cobalt - for decarbonized technologies," said coauthor Anthony Bebbington, a geographer at Clark University in Massachusetts. "We need more planning tools on the parts of governments and companies to mitigate the impacts of mining on forest loss."Already, mines worldwide extract more than twice the amount of raw materials than they did in 2000, the study said.For the study, the researchers studied global satellite images and data tracking forest loss alongside location information for industrial-scale mining operations from the past two decades. The study did not measure the impacts from small-scale and artisanal mining, which can also be a challenge as pollution goes unregulated.Overall, there were 26 countries responsible for most of the world's tropical deforestation since 2000.But around industrial mining sites, the four countries dominated. The biggest losses were in Indonesia, where coal mines on the island of Borneo have expanded to meet fuel demand from China and India.Ghana and Suriname also showed high deforestation rates around gold and bauxite mines delivering material used in aluminum and other products. In Brazil, gold and iron ore extraction drove mining deforestation.Mining operations often clear forests to make room for expanding extraction sites and tailing storage facilities, as well as to build access roads and settlements for miners.Road-building and development activities are often not included in environmental impact assessments, conducted before a mine is approved, said environmental engineer Juliana Siqueira-Gay at the sustainability nonprofit Instituto Escolhas in Brazil, who was not involved in the study.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Gloria Dickie in London; Editing by Katy Daigle and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
John Locher/Associated Press A formerly sunken boat sits on cracked earth hundreds of feet from what is now the shoreline on Lake Mead. California is, for the first time in a series of negotiations, offering to cut back its use of water from Lake Mead next year. California on Wednesday offered to conserve 400,000 acre-feet, or 130 billion gallons, of water from Lake Mead annually from 2023 through 2026. “This water, which would otherwise be used by California’s communities and farms, will meaningfully contribute to stabilizing the Colorado River reservoir system,” state water agencies said in a letter to the federal government. Both water usage and drought, which has been accelerated by climate change, in the West are contributing to shortages in Lake Mead — a Colorado Reservoir in the southwestern U.S. — leaving the region with a need to conserve water. Lake Mead provides water from the Colorado River to about 25 million people. The water is used for municipal, industrial and farming purposes. The head of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a federal agency that’s in charge of the country’s water resources, recently said that the region needs to conserve between 2 and 4 million acre-feet, or at least 651.7 billion gallons, of water in 2023 to protect Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Experts have described California’s proposal as both an important step, but also not nearly enough to solve the problem. “It’s a really good first step and it’s a good sign that things could be moving, but we’re going to need 4, 5, 6, 7 times that amount of water here in the very near future,” said Chris Kuzdas, a senior water program manager with the Environmental Defense Fund. Kuzdas said that the additional cuts won’t just need to come from California, though, saying that several parties need to bring down their water use. “It’s going to need to come from everyone, certainly more from California, Arizona, Nevada, Upper Basin, Mexico, municipal water users, agricultural water users,” he added. Sarah Porter, director of Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy, likewise described California’s offer as “momentum” in the right direction, but also not enough. Porter also noted that California’s proposal is based on voluntary conservation, meaning that the cuts it calls for may or may not be met in practice. “It’s hard to say just from this letter how real that 400,000 acre-feet is,” Porter said. But, she said that it is just a starting point in negotiations, and said the state — and other parties — could bring more significant offers to the table in the near future. “You don’t open with your final offer,” she said. | Climate Change |
EnvironmentFor decades, the park has used prescribed fire to make its forests healthier—and it’s paying off right now to protect the famous Mariposa GroveYosemite ecologist Garret Dickman has seen a lot of scary, intense fire in his career.So when the Washburn fire started last week just around the corner from the national park’s famous, beloved Mariposa Grove—a patch of about 500 mature giant sequoias, some of which are more than 2,000 years old—the first word out of his mouth was an expletive.Not again, he thought.California’s sequoias have experienced unprecedented losses in recent years. In just 15 months between 2020 and 2021, one explosive fire after another ripped through their range, killing an estimated 13 to 19 percent of all mature trees. Many researchers and tree-lovers like Dickman get a bad feeling in the pit of their stomach at the news of any new fire, fearing it will spin up into another disaster.But then he took a breath. Yosemite National Park, and the Mariposa Grove in particular, has one of the longest-running and most thorough “prescribed fire” programs in the United States. By treating the grove with more than 20 low-level, carefully managed fires since 1971—one every two to three years on average—the park service has cleared out combustible brush and dead wood. That has given the sequoias a layer of protection from catastrophic wildfire—not a guarantee against all damage, but a much stronger chance of escaping fire unscathed.“This is what we’ve been preparing for 50 years,” Dickman says. “We know what to do; we know how to save these trees.”As of July 14, the fire had burned about 4,400 acres and was 23 percent contained. The cause is still unknown, but in a recent public meeting the park superintendent said that it was human-started.In the donut holeSo far, the decades of preparation in the grove seem to be working.The ring of forest around the Mariposa Grove, dubbed the donut by local fire teams, hasn’t been thinned or burned by prescription lately. So it was “loaded with fuel,” says Kristen Shive, a fire ecologist soon to be affiliated with UC Berkeley's Cooperative Extension program. Encountering such overabundance, the Washburn fire burned hot and intense, turning into the kind of fire that’s dangerous and difficult for firefighters to control.But once it hit the edge of the carefully managed grove, “the fire dropped right down to the ground,” says Dickman. Unlike in the donut, which was packed with small trees, dead branches, and other fuel, the grove’s floor was relatively open. Without much material to burn, the fire became manageable. Crews were able to wet down the base of Grizzly Giant, one of the world’s top 25 biggest sequoias, and to clear small fallen branches, while the fire was just a few dozen yards away.Forest scientist Nate Stephenson saw similar behavior during last year’s KNP Complex fire, in Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park. At the Redwood Mountain Grove there, in “areas that hadn’t [recently seen prescribed fire], things got nuked. In areas that had had a recent prescribed fire, most of it did really, really well,” Stephenson says, burning at the kind of low or moderate severity that actually benefits sequoias, which require fire for their seeds to germinate.Nonetheless, the best forest management in the world “doesn’t guarantee a good outcome,” says Stephenson. Bad luck and bad weather conditions can spin up intense fires even in carefully treated areas; in Redwood Mountain Grove, some treated areas still burned severely. Overall, as many as 3,700 mature sequoias died in the KNP Complex and adjacent Windy fire last year, about 3 to 5 percent of the remaining population.But “these fuels treatments can improve odds of a good outcome, and greatly,” Stephenson says.It’s critical to understand that distinction, says Matt Hurteau, a fire ecologist at the University of New Mexico. “Forest fuels treatments do not stop fire,” he says. “They change the way fire interacts with the vegetation. It’s releasing fuel on landscape in smaller bites—and decreasing the chance of those big, hot, fast-moving fires.”Errors of historyMost of California’s forest isn’t anywhere near as thoroughly managed as the famous sequoia groves like Mariposa. Not even all the known sequoia groves have seen such thorough care; another grove in Yosemite, the Merced Grove, is thickly overgrown and therefore highly at risk during any fire that may sweep through. (It’s not in the expected path of the Washburn fire.)But fire is an integral part of the cultural history and ecology of the region. Before European colonizers arrived in California, an estimated 2 to 4 million acres burned across the state each year. Indigenous people used fire to manage the forests in many ways, influencing the growth patterns of shrubs to make them better for basket weaving, opening the understory to encourage game to pass through, and much more. As they were forcibly removed from their homelands, fire often disappeared from the landscape.From the early 1900s on, federal policy focused on stamping out fires as thoroughly and soon as possible. Places that had previously experienced fire every 10 or 20 years went decades longer without a burn, allowing the understory to fill with dead material and young, densely packed trees—a tinderbox waiting for a spark. Scientists estimate that some forest areas in California have twice as many trees or more than they did before European contact.“We have a problem of overly dense forests because we have prohibited indigenous burning over the past 250 years,” says Joanna Nelson, science director at the Save the Redwoods League, a nonprofit dedicated to forest preservation in California.How to go about addressing that overabundance is a major challenge. Prescribed fire is difficult to do both technically and politically; many more treatments are planned each year than can be completed, especially as climate change exacerbates the risks. Earlier this year in New Mexico, a prescribed fire escaped its bounds on a hot and windy day. It merged with another fire and eventually burned more than 340,000 acres and hundreds of homes. In response, the U.S. Forest Service announced they would stop all prescribed fire for 90 days while they reviewed their practices. Overall, the Forest Service reports that less than one percent of all prescribed burns escape.The question is how to balance the risks from prescribed fire with the risks from an uncontrolled wildfire, says Shive: “There’s no solution going forward that doesn’t involve fire. It’s either the kind of fire we want, or the kind of fire we don’t.” While the New Mexico experience highlights the risks from prescribed fire, “there are even bigger risks from doing nothing,” she says.Scientists estimate that the state should be using prescribed burns on about a million acres of California forest each year. Currently, the California Air Resources Board says about 125,000 acres see prescribed fire annually.Scarier days ahead for sequoias?The natural range of giant sequoias is confined to the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California. Since 2015, wildfires have swept across 80 to 85 percent of that range. Not all the fires were harmful; many burned through groves at low or moderate intensity,. But a shocking proportion of them were. The 2020 Castle Fire alone killed an estimated 7,500 to 10,600 mature sequoias, up to 14 percent of the known population at the time.The risks are not likely to ebb anytime soon.Fire scientists point to three factors that influence fire behavior: fuel load, weather conditions, and the topography of the landscape.We can’t do anything about topography, says Shive—fires start where they start.Climate change is dialing up the likelihood of risky weather: Hotter days, big winds, and ongoing drought all promote fire-friendly conditions. By cutting the emissions we produce from burning fossil fuels, we can slow climate warming, but that takes time. Meanwhile, the fires will intensify.So the main knob we can turn to control fire risk to sequoias is changing the fuel load around them.Most sequoia groves in California have felt either prescribed fire or wildfire since 2015 (mostly wildfire). There are 16 groves left (of 73 in all) that have not recently felt fire, prescribed or wild—in some cases for decades. The risks are highest in those heavily overgrown areas. Groups across the state are working together to create a “triage” plan to do at least basic treatments—mechanical removal or prescribed fire or both—in the most at-risk groves.Simultaneously, scientists like Stephenson are looking back at the places that have burned since 2015. He and others have estimated that fire used to return to one spot in the Sierras roughly every 10 to 20 years. So even in the places where fire is still a painfully recent memory, it’s nearly time to come back in and use fire again to clean it up.“It’s like mowing your lawn. You don’t go out once and mow your lawn and say you’re done for the rest of your life,” he says.For now, the Mariposa Grove sequoias seem to be safe. Whether they’ll be safe for the rest of the summer and beyond is far from clear.But today, “the punchline is, the only reason [the Washburn fire] is not going to kill those giant sequoias is because the park has done so much work around them,” says Hurteau. | Climate Change |
On October 06, 2022, Copenhagen-based Henrik Frode Obel Foundation announced material technology company Seratech as the winner of Obel Award 2022. The architecture award recognised the efforts of the company’s material scientists and London’s Imperial College PhD students Barney Shanks and Sam Draper in creating a solution against the alarming carbon footprint generated by the building and construction industry. The duo have created a carbon-neutral concrete through an efficient, low-cost process using materials that are naturally available all over the globe. The technology, according to Obel Award jury, best represents the 2022 theme of the award - 'Embodied Emissions' - referring to the irreversible and unremedied amount of CO2 that’s released in the construction of concrete architecture, and the need to sequester the problem at source. Seratech’s Chief Technical Officer Barney Shanks (left), and CEO Sam Draper (right) Image: Helene Sandberg Seratech’s solution is about capturing carbon from various industrial production processes to create a 100 per cent carbon neutral product that serves to potentially reduce embodied emissions. Though still at the 'lab level', the company hopes to scale up the concrete’s production in the near future to help achieve low carbon constructions. Through this year’s thematic and the corresponding winner, the OBEL Award jury highlights the need for innovative and flexible cross-disciplinary solutions to combat climate change. Lauding Seratech’s endeavour, the jury shared that "it is necessary to encourage ambitious, cross disciplinary ideas that do not just provide a temporary or a small scale fix nor an unrealistic shift in the current practices." The jury consisted of Martha Schwartz, as Chair (Founder, Martha Schwartz Partners, USA), Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (Co-founder, Snöhetta, Norway), Louis Becker (Design Principal and Partner, Henning Larsen, Denmark), Dr Wilhelm Vossenkuhl (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Germany), and XU Tiantian (Founding Principal, DnA, Beijing, China). The fourth honouree to have received the annual prize that "recognises exceptional architectural contributions to human development", Seratech’s winning new age concrete is preceded by Professor Carlos Menos' urban design proposal 15-miuute city (2021), German architect Anna Herringer’s multi-layered building Anandaloy (2020) from northern Bangladesh, and Japanese architect Junya Ishigami’s Water Garden as the 2019 winner. Shanks and Draper discuss the idea behind the technology produced at Seratech Video: Courtesy of Obel Award So how is this concrete actually produced? Co-founders Shanks and Draper have mechanised a chemical process of capturing and storing C02 to create an alternative to Portland cement in the concrete composition. “We found a way to take the world’s most abundant waste product, CO2, and react it with the world’s most abundant mineral, magnesium silicate. In doing this, we produce two things: magnesium carbonate and silica,” says Shanks. “But the really exciting bit is the silica. We use this as a cement replacement material, and if this is scaled globally, not only does it cut Portland cement production by 30 per cent, but also sequesters the emissions from the remaining 70 per cent, resulting in carbon-neutral concrete,” Draper, the company’s CEO adds. Seratech’s process involves the production of a silica that could reduce the composition of Portland cement in concrete mix by 30 per cent Image: Helene Sandberg A private limited company comprising a team of scientists, engineers and business leaders, Seratech’s technology has been in development since late 2020 and is currently working on the design of a pilot plant to model the process at a large scale. Following acceptance into the climate-tech accelerator Greenhouse in August 2021, the company has also received two grants totalling £212k to hire more researchers in its team, in addition to being featured as a case study in The Green Construction Board’s 'Low Carbon Concrete Routemap'. The carbon neutral cement, if scaled up globally, is expected to eliminate three billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year Image: Helene Sandberg "The overall idea with this project," according to Seratech’s Chief Technical Officer Barney Shanks, "is essentially where finding a way to reduce the carbon emissions associated with cement and concrete is zero but without impacting the properties of cement and concrete itself. If it is fully adopted, this technology eliminates three billion tonnes of CO2 being released in the atmosphere every year.” Shanks and Draper are currently working on developing a pilot plant to model the process for large scale Image: Helene Sandberg In this time of aggressive urbanisation where the need for concrete and cement is seeing a continual rise, and which is only expected to increase in the future, Seratech’s sustainable endeavour brings a ray of hope in significantly decarbonising the construction industry. Draper and Shanks will receive a prize sum of EUR 100,000 and an artwork by Barcelona-based artist Tomás Saraceno at the Obel Award official ceremony, to be hosted at the Utzon Centre in Aalborg, Denmark, on October 25, 2022. | Climate Change |
A “horrible complacency” about the impact of the climate emergency on the fire service has left it under-funded and ill-prepared, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union has warned.Matt Wrack said firefighters were at the sharp end of tackling the impact of climate change and warned that this summer’s wildfires had to act as a “wake-up call” to the UK government to engage with those on the frontline.As he travels the country urging firefighters to vote for strike action over a proposed 2% pay increase in just over a month’s time, Wrack said the service had faced “historic cuts” under a Conservative government that had left the service less resilient.“If the wildfires we saw this summer do not act as a wake-up call, that is quite shocking,” he said. “Climate change is a long-term threat and the fire service needs to prepare for it and plan for it. [The FBU] could play a much bigger role and we would be interested in discussing that with government, but it’s very hard to do when all they’re doing is slashing funding.”Guardian analysis of publicly available data shows total firefighter headcount across 46 English fire authorities has fallen 20.4% since 2010, with 35,279 in 2021 compared with 44,307 in 2010, accounting for full-time and on-call firefighters.Wrack compared the lack of preparedness to deal with climate change to earlier fire service warnings about the risk of large-scale fires because of building control deregulation resulting in the use of combustible cladding, pre-Grenfell. He added that the risk of pandemics was highlighted in the first version of the national risk register in 2008.Wrack joins protesters on the fifth annual Silent Walk at Grenfell Tower in London in June. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images“I think exactly the same things could happen again and some sort of disaster could happen,” he said. “There’s a real horrible complacency that people think, well, let’s fly by the seat of our pants, and hope nothing particularly serious happens, and if it does, we’ll say, ‘well, no one could have expected this’.”While “historic level of cuts since 2010” had angered and demoralised members, a below-inflation pay offer had brought the issue to a head and led the union’s executive committee to ballot for strike action, said Wrack.Firefighters and firefighter control staff received a 2% annual pay offer on 27 June, but with inflation running at a near 40-year high of 9.9% the union argues staff are being asked to take a significant pay cut while facing greater dangers.A Home Office spokesperson said pay was decided by the National Joint Council (NJC), not central government, adding: “Firefighters work tirelessly to protect our communities and it is essential they are paid fairly for the important work they undertake. At the same time, any decision on pay must be justifiable to the taxpayer.”Wrack said the union was balloting for strike action because it had no other choice. “It has become a case of what else can we do when they ignore us on staffing levels, ignore us on PPE equipment and then they ignore us on pay as well,” he said. “It is a very difficult one, and we don’t want to do it because we know it will have an impact on safety”.A number of strikes were postponed during the official mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II – but this autumn there could be a series of strikes including by barristers, bin collectors, teachers and nurses as well as postal and rail workers.Speaking about the sudden re-emergence of a movement many had dismissed as moribund, Wrack is enthusiastic. “It’s a really fascinating development for someone who’s been a trade unionist since my youth,” he says. “I think people are thinking enough is enough – we’ve had 12 years now of being kicked in the teeth.”He also argues that while the union movement is facing “powerful forces”, attempts to stir up “traditional anti-union bashing” have backfired. But with the union movement down to about 6 million members from its peak of 12 million in the early 1980s, unions have to find a way of bringing non-unionised workers with them, he argues.“There’s a pretty unique opportunity for unions to make the case for their own members, but we also have to make a case for justice for workers more generally,” he said. “We have to show how unfair the world of work is – and show that the only way people will improve that is by getting organised and standing up for themselves.” | Climate Change |
An investigation published by The BMJ today takes an in-depth look at how fossil fuel companies pour money into prestigious American universities. Investigative journalist Paul Thacker examines how oil and gas companies have funded research to try to weaken messages on climate change, capture academia, and protect their interests, much like tobacco companies did half a century ago. Today’s report is thought to be the first systematic examination of fossil fuel funding influence across multiple elite campuses. As one example, Thacker reports how a paper published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) helped alter American energy policy and kicked off a fracking boom. One Stanford University student told The BMJ that climate scientists at elite universities have normalised financial relationships with oil and gas companies, and many students are now calling for their universities to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry. Thacker describes how, at the turn of the century, a fresh crop of research centres to confront global warming began popping up at prestigious American universities including Princeton, Stanford and MIT. Ironically, he reports that the seeds for these academic centres were planted by fossil fuel companies, echoing a scheme by tobacco companies in the 1950s to counter research showing smoking was harmful by funding university-based scientists. Indeed, some documents confirm that energy companies had similar goals in mind when they began throwing money at elite American universities. A handful of years after these documents came to light, British Petroleum and Ford motor company donated a combined $20m to Princeton in 2000 to launch the first major programme at an American university to tackle climate change. Princeton extended its partnership with ExxonMobil two years ago. ExxonMobil declined to say how much money it had given Princeton, as did Princeton. However, a Princeton spokesperson told The BMJ that the university has authorised a process to dissociate itself from fossil fuel companies that engage in climate disinformation campaigns. Meanwhile the movement on campuses against fossil fuel funding is growing. In March last year, students at Stanford sent the university’s president a letter that highlighted the fossil fuel industry’s decades of deception on climate change and demanded that the university stop accepting research money from energy interests.
Hundreds of Stanford students, alumni, faculty, and staff released a separate open letter earlier this year calling on Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability - Stanford’s first new school in 70 years - to refuse fossil fuel funds. Celina Scott-Buechler, a Stanford graduate student who signed the open letter, previously worked on climate change policy for a US senator and witnessed fossil fuel companies highlighting their funding of universities when asking congressional staff to change climate bills and water them down. And Ben Franta, a Stanford student who is finalising his PhD on the history of climate disinformation, claims that professors began criticising him for raising problems and possibly threatening their funding. As this article was going to press, Oxford University announced that Franta was joining their faculty to establish the Climate Litigation Lab. “We can look at other examples of industries that have funded research related to their products,” Franta told The BMJ. “Often the reasons are to obtain the trust of scientists, to paint themselves as part of the solution to the broader public, to keep an eye on what research is being done - even to influence what research gets done, what doesn't get done.” Stanford did not answer questions sent to them by The BMJ and responded with a short statement that it is committed to unbiased research and that the dean of the Doerr School of Sustainability will partner with industry to tackle climate change. Many of those calling for their universities to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry cite carbon capture technology research as a prime example of the problem as it permits the notion that fossil fuel consumption can continue unabated, because harmful greenhouse gases are sequestered and locked up underground. Last November, Tufts University professor Neva Goodwin co-published an essay arguing that carbon capture is the latest ploy by the fossil fuel industry to delay action on climate change, while Stanford professor of engineering Mark Jacobson says: “There’s never, under any circumstances, any benefit of using carbon capture equipment.” Oddly enough, Thacker reports that more than 40 years ago Exxon scientists found that while carbon capture may work technically, it fails economically as the energy required to capture and transport the carbon to underground storage is too expensive. Yet when asked about its internal documents denigrating carbon capture, a ExxonMobil spokesperson told The BMJ that the company is focused on achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions with investments in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and biofuels. “Young people don’t want to work in a lab that is funded by oil companies because these young people want to solve climate change,” says Franta. He expects universities to resist efforts to remove fossil fuel funding, but says those that do “are going to see their reputations decline. This is going to be an issue that is not going away.” [Ends] Article Title Investigation: Stealing from the tobacco playbook, fossil fuel companies pour money into elite American universities Article Publication Date 14-Sep-2022 Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system. | Climate Change |
Ben Birchall/PA Images/Contributor/Getty This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
A quarter of Europe’s breeding seabirds spend spring in the UK, turning our coastline into a giant maternity unit. These noisy outcrops usually stink of bird poo. However, this year has been different. “Instead of the smell of guano, it’s the smell of death,” says Gwen Potter, a National Trust countryside manager working on the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland. “It’s completely horrendous.”
This annual congregation of life has turned into a super-spreader event, as a highly pathogenic avian influenza, H5N1—also known as bird flu—sweeps through populations of breeding birds, causing devastating losses. More than 300 outbreaks have been reported in UK seabird colonies, and dozens of coastal sites have closed to the public.
The Farne Islands are home to 200,000 seabirds, including Arctic terns, Atlantic puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes, and razorbills. Potter is one of many conservationists swapping binoculars for a hazmat suit, picking up the bodies of birds she has spent her career trying to protect. Birds will sit on the ground, unable to move, twisting into unnatural positions, before dying. It is happening with chicks, too, still gently trying to flap as they die. “It sweeps through, takes everything in its path. It doesn’t seem to spare anything, really…We’ve collected thousands of dead birds, and that’s the tip of the iceberg. It’s just the scale of it which is hard to grasp,” she says.
Early observations suggest that how closely the bird’s nest is a key factor in how quickly the virus is transmitted. Guillemots nest quite densely, and kittiwakes are often next to them, which makes them vulnerable, although there is more space between them. Terns also nest densely and already 25 percent of the 350 sandwich terns on the Farne Islands are thought to have died, according to Potter. Some seabird chicks jump into the sea prematurely if their parents have died, while others starve in the nest.
Most seabirds will fly away in the coming weeks once their chicks are raised, but the true impact on populations will not be known for a few years, with concerns that some may never recover. “I don’t want to contemplate that because it will make me cry,” says Potter.
Britain has about 8 million seabirds, including 90 percent of the world’s Manx shearwater and about two-thirds of northern gannets and great skuas. Any impact on these populations is of global conservation significance. “Tens of thousands of birds must have died, maybe hundreds of thousands. It seems as though this breeding season will have been a disaster. Many will have died on remote islands, but the monitoring is nowhere near good enough,” says the ornithologist Mark Avery, who describes the deaths so far as an international disaster. “Already, it looks very serious and I fear this is just the start.”
Seabirds are particularly vulnerable because they are typically long-lived animals that don’t reach breeding age until they are about five years old. They generally only have a few chicks, so populations take longer to recover. Nationally, the three species that are most at risk are the great skua, gannet and sandwich tern, according to Niall Burton, from the British Trust for Ornithology.
The world population of great skua is about 16,000 and early research on the impact of the disease suggests that between 64 percent and 85 percent of the population at some sites have died, mainly in Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides. Burton says it will take several years for populations to recover but that it was too early to be more exact.
The biggest population of gannets on the planet, at St Abb’s Head, in Berwickshire, Scotland, has been halved. Gannets nest in large colonies and there are few of them in the UK as a whole. Bird flu seems to be present in most of them, with a few exceptions in Ireland and Wales. Across the Channel, 10 percent of France’s total breeding population of sandwich terns is believed to have died in the space of a week, with high casualties also reported in the Netherlands. Coquet Island, off the Northumberland coast, is the UK’s only colony for breeding roseate terns, with about 150 breeding pairs. More than two-thirds of chicks have died.
“We are talking about very long-term recovery. It’s something that is unprecedented, certainly in my lifetime,” says Burton.
The story of this latest bird flu epidemic dates back to 1996 when the H5N1 strain was found in a population of commercial geese in Asia. In 2005, wild birds started dying en masse. The current wave of the H5N1 strain has resulted in more than 77 million domestic birds being culled. About 400,000 non-poultry birds—which includes wild birds—are reported to have died, which is double the number of deaths in the previous wave, in 2016-17. For the first half of this year, H5N1 was a problem for domestic poultry, leading all chickens to be shut inside between November last year and May, with the result that at one point it was impossible to get UK free-range eggs. Already there were reports of the disease’s impact on wild wintering populations, including the death of more than one-third of the Svalbard barnacle goose population on the Solway Firth (16,500 out of a total population of 43,000). There were reports of birds “falling from the sky in distress.”
With the arrival of spring, the problem escalated. It is now considered to be the worst ever bird flu outbreak in the UK, noted for the large area it has affected but also high levels of chick mortality. Almost every country in Europe has had cases in the latest outbreak, as well as those in North America, West Africa, and Asia.
Fragmented bird populations are most at risk. There are about 8,000 Dalmatian pelicans left in the world, and more than 2,000 have already died from bird flu. “We are facing an event of mass extinction of animals. Entire populations are affected by this virus,” says Uri Naveh, a senior scientist at the Israel Parks and Nature Authority.
Early observations suggest that about 50 percent of birds infected with the virus die from it, but Prof Diana Bell, a conservation biologist at the University of East Anglia, who studied the H5N1 strain back in 2007, says the figure is more like 100 percent. “Anything that gets infected is not going to survive, unless the H5N1 has attenuated in its virulence during that time, but I don’t think so,” she says.
“I look in horror at what it is doing to our birds…We just have to really hope there are a decent number that have survived, but I don’t think it’s because they’ve had it and they’ve recovered.” Bell’s research suggests it affects birds in most orders. Tigers have been fed infected poultry and died, she says, and there have recently been reports of seals dying from it in the US.
In terms of how the virus will spread, Prof Paul Digard, the chair of virology at the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, says it is impossible to generalize from one species to another, so he doesn’t believe it will kill 100 percent of those it infects, partly because of intrinsic genetic differences, and partly because of factors such as stress, age and other traits in specific populations.
He says H5N1 is causing a huge amount of damage because it is spreading among populations that have not had the virus before, but that this will change in the future because some will survive. “My guess is that things will calm down over time as populations gain immunity to this circulating strain of virus. I would hope not to see the same levels of mortality in the coming years, but that’s something of a guess,” he says.
The main factors contributing to its spread are international trade, the farming and sale of birds, and the migration of wild birds, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. Birds that have no symptoms could be super-spreaders because they can still fly long distances.
However, Bell says she has never heard of an asymptomatic bird with the virus and therefore doesn’t think wild birds would be able to spread it over long distances. She believes the international poultry trade is the main driver of the virus and says stopping imports of chicks and birds for the trade would be an important step in reducing the risk of future outbreaks. “Originally, it was poultry to wild birds; it was not wild birds which were spreading it. It was frustrating to see wild birds being blamed … We’ve got to get out of our heads that the wild birds are the bad guys here,” she says.
The public should keep their distance from any carcasses and report them to the government helpline. At the moment it does not appear to be infecting humans, but previous strains of the virus have. “If you see a sick bird, leave it be, I’m afraid,” says Digard. “Don’t take it to an animal shelter. You are potentially signing a death warrant for all the other birds in that shelter.”
The most important thing would be better surveillance of the situation, says Potter, who believes there needs to be a government-led plan for all four UK countries, with guidance for effective carcass collection and testing, and better biosecurity on poultry farms. Seabirds have already been hit by a range of threats, including habitat loss, overfishing and climate change; their populations have halved since the 1980s. Reducing these other pressures would make them more resilient to bird flu.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “There are limited effective actions that can be taken to protect wild birds, as opposed to captive bird flocks. Due to the migratory habits of wild birds, it will only be with breeding season monitoring next year that the full impact will become apparent. However, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out year-round avian influenza surveillance of dead wild birds, and clear public guidance has been issued not to handle their carcasses.” | Climate Change |
A view shows a wildfire burning in the Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region, France, August 11, 2022, in this still image taken from a social media video. Colonel Cyril Fournier/via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comPARIS, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Firefighters have managed to halt the spread of a "monster" blaze in southwest France, allowing authorities to reopen a stretch of highway to traffic ahead of a busy travel weekend."The fire did not advance overnight thanks to the significant means employed," the local prefect said in a tweet Saturday.Reinforcements from across Europe helped local firefighters tackle the blaze which has ravaged forests in France's Gironde region since Tuesday and forced 10,000 people to evacuate their homes. The fire has been fanned by wind and scorching temperatures of up to 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in recent days. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe southwest of France had already been hit by fires in July that destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of forest and temporarily forced almost 40,000 people from their homes.Successive heatwaves have sparked wildfires across Europe this summer, throwing the spotlight on the risks of climate change to industry and livelihoods. read more Storms are expected to sweep through France on Saturday night, bringing down temperatures and prompting severe weather warnings.Over a thousand French firefighters were supported by hundreds of firefighters from across Europe, as well as trucks and waterbombing aircrafts, which continued to arrive Saturday.Hundreds of firemen are also fighting fires further north in Brittany, where a blaze has burned 400 hectares, as well as in the Jura region in the east, where more than 500 hectares have burned.More than 60,000 hectares (230 square miles) have gone up in flames so far in France this year, six times the full-year average for 2006-2021, data from the European Forest Fire Information System shows.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
The agriculture minister, Murray Watt, will launch a new national biosecurity strategy on Tuesday, warning that climate change, Covid and online shopping have contributed to a biosecurity environment that is “more threatening than ever before”.Watt, who will launch the plan in an address to the National Press Club, says it is the first ever federal plan of its kind and will involve authorities undertaking more regular national exercises to prepare for pest and disease outbreaks.The strategy warns that Australia is dealing with “multiple risks, on multiple fronts, at the same time” and will require stronger partnerships across governments, more skilled workers, and a coordinated preparation and response plan.“The management of Australia’s biosecurity system is becoming increasingly complex, creating new challenges,” Watt said in a statement.“Strong and efficient biosecurity is even more important as we respond to emerging challenges including diseases on our doorstep including Foot and Mouth Disease, African Swine Fever, Lumpy Skin Disease and Xylella.”Last week, Watt further strengthened Australia’s response to keep out foot and mouth disease, which affects cloven-hoofed animals, and lumpy skin disease, which affects cattle and water buffalo, amid outbreaks in Indonesia.The agriculture department has listed the fast-spreading xylella bacterium as a top priority plant pest, saying the “devastating disease” affects 550 plant species, including agricultural crops like grapes and fruit trees from pears to stonefruit. In recent years xylella has ravaged olive trees in Italy. A large foot and mouth outbreak could cause $80bn of economic damage to Australia, the document states, while a xylella outbreak could cost up to $11.8bn.Senator Murray Watt, the agriculture minister. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The GuardianThe biosecurity strategy identifies several factors complicating the picture, including climate change creating new habitats in Australia’s south for parasites previously limited to the north.“As climate change increasingly affects global plant and animal habitats, it will have flow-on impacts for biosecurity risks … and the effectiveness of our existing control measures,” the document says.Changes to trade and travel patterns, including supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic, are also of biosecurity concern.The document warns increased online shopping has “inadvertently opened new pathways for illegal plants and animals to reach Australia”.In a foreword to the strategy, Watt wrote: “The risks we’re facing are closer and more threatening than ever before.” He says Australia’s biosecurity system “needs to be continually strengthened”.Under the plan, the government will boost awareness and education campaigns, review state and federal responsibilities, enhance surveillance and early detection programs, and undertake regular preparedness exercises to test responses.Watt noted the strategy had been in train for more than a year – since the previous Coalition government. | Climate Change |
After humankind discovered nuclear fission, the first applied use was the atomic bomb. The study of fission for electricity production came later.In December 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his fateful Atoms for Peace speech, an impassioned plea to reconstitute the power of the atomic bombs dropped in World War II for a more noble cause. "Against the dark background of the atomic bomb, the United States does not wish merely to present strength, but also the desire and the hope for peace," Eisenhower told the United Nations.Almost 70 years later, the tension between those end uses still underlies the space today.From the 1950s through the 1970s, the United States dramatically increased its nuclear energy generation. But the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and Chornobyl meltdown in 1986 changed the landscape, spurring fear that nuclear energy could not be controlled safely.Steam rises out of the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island, with the operational plant run by Exelon Generation, in Middletown, Pennsylvania on March 26, 2019.Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | Getty ImagesSince the 1980s, nuclear energy capacity and generation in the U.S. has largely stayed flat. Today, the country's fleet of nuclear power reactors produces only 19% of the country's electricity, according to the government's Energy Information Administration. In more recent times, the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan in 2011 — and earlier this year the capture of nuclear power plants in Ukraine by invading Russian forces — have added to public concerns.But despite its fraught origin story and the psychological effect of high-profile accidents, nuclear energy is getting a second look. That's largely because nuclear energy is clean energy, releasing no greenhouse gasses. Meanwhile, the world is seeing more of the effects of climate change, including rising global temperatures, increased pollution, wildfires, and more intense and deadly storms. "We need to change course — now — and end our senseless and suicidal war against nature," Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, said in Stockholm on Thursday. "There is one thing that threatens all our progress. The climate crisis. Unless we act now, we will not have a livable planet," Guterres said. "Scientists recently reported that there is a 50-50 chance that we could temporarily breach the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next five years." Watch this video for a dive into nuclear energy's potential renaissance as a response to the growing crisis of climate change. Aerial view of the Diablo Canyon, the only operational nuclear plant left in California, viewed in these aerial photos taken on December 1, 2021, near Avila Beach, California. Set on 1,000 acres of scenic coastal property just north and west of Avila Beach, the controversial power plant operated by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was commisioned in 1985.George Rose | Getty Images News | Getty Images | Climate Change |
Conservationists, builders, tribal communities, local governments and the solar industry will have to wait another four months for a decision on whether the western Joshua tree is a threatened species.
Before the conclusion of its two-day meeting Thursday, June 16, the California Fish and Game Commission heard testimony from more than 220 people about whether it should list the iconic tree as a threatened or endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act. The other species of Joshua tree — the eastern Joshua tree — was not being considered for the threatened designation.
“We have multiple competing priorities,” commission President Samantha Murray said Thursday. “So I ask we all operate from a place of grace and empathy.”
Ultimately, the evenly split four-person commission postponed a decision until its October meeting. Designating the western Joshua tree as threatened or endangered would mean additional restrictions on construction and development in the trees’ Mojave Desert habitat, requiring state approval to kill one.
Today, there are up to 9.8 million Joshua trees in California, occupying an area of land larger than the state of Connecticut. But, state Fish and Game staff said this week, they also reproduce very slowly, and under very specific conditions.
There have been increasing calls to protect the plants — which are yucca, related to palm trees — in recent years.
A paper published in June 2019 by researchers at UC Riverside’s Center for Conservation Biology, and other institutes, predicts that at least 80% of the Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park will be wiped out by 2100.
“The western Joshua tree is already very much a threatened species,” Tim Krantz, a professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Redlands, said Wednesday. Climate change has made summer temperatures in the park higher than ever, winter temperatures lower and increased drought conditions. Strands of trees that have stood for thousands of years will likely die off, leaving only those in the highest elevations, although continuing climate change will eventually get them too, according to researchers.
In the 2019 study’s worst-case scenario, the 160,000 acres of land in Joshua Tree National Park capable of supporting the iconic trees will drop to just 37 acres by 2100.
“There are a lot of needs for land now,” Kelly Herbinson, with the Mojave Desert Land Trust, told the commission Wednesday. “(But) we also really need thriving, healthy ecosystems.”
She called the western Joshua tree a “lynchpin” for the desert ecosystem.
The land the Joshua trees occupy is also sought after by homebuilders and the solar industry, who are building solar farms in the region. Both endeavors will face increased restrictions on where and how they can build if the western Joshua tree is listed as a threatened species.
About half of the more than 220 people who spoke Wednesday, the first day of the hearing, opposed giving the trees additional legal protections, citing the economic impacts of doing so, and said local governments could protect the trees without the need for state intervention.
“Listing the western Joshua tree as threatened would have permanent economic impacts on my constituents,” Assemblyman Thurston “Smitty” Smith, R-Apple Valley, told the commission Wednesday. Smith is the former mayor of Hesperia, which features a Joshua tree on its crest. But the city, like much of the High Desert, relies on home building for many of its jobs, and Smith said employment opportunities will decrease if the western Joshua tree is listed as a threatened species.
Solar industry representatives, including solar farm workers, warned that the designation would cost jobs and slow California’s progress toward carbon-free electricity generation by 2045.
Town and city council members from across the High Desert, as well as state legislators and county supervisors from San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, urged the commission to not list the tree as a threatened species.
San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe told commissioners Wednesday they could trust local politicians to get it right: “We all want to see the tree not just survive, but thrive.”
In May, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors passed an emergency ordinance to protect the trees, leveling fines of up to $20,000 for illegally moving one of the fragile trees without permission. San Bernardino County includes the city of Joshua Tree and Joshua Tree National Park.
But an otherwise divided Fish and Game Commission was unified in saying local politicians weren’t getting the job done.
“Local authorities have failed — woefully and inadequately — to protect the Joshua tree,” Commissioner Eric Sklar said Thursday.
“Local governments are all over the board,” Commissioner Jacque Hostler-Carmesin agreed. “I think they need to have some consistency in how they protect the Joshua tree.”
The 994-page report on the Joshua tree issue prepared by staff for the commission contains evidence cited by both sides during the meeting. Although staff ultimately recommended against listing the trees as threatened, three of the five outside peer reviewers who were asked to review the recommendation by the department disagreed with its conclusion.
The federal government declined to list the western Joshua tree as a protected species in 2019.
“The question is not whether climate change will be bad for the western Joshua tree. It’s just how bad it will be, and how fast. And the answer is, we don’t know,” Jeb Bjerke, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife plant biologist, said Wednesday.
Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham said he didn’t sleep much Wednesday night, thinking about everything the public speakers had said.
“The reality is this is a close call,” he said Thursday. “This is one of our most iconic species. I don’t think our existing law is sufficient.” Finally, after two days of deliberation and deadlocking 2-2 over listing the western Joshua tree as a threatened species, the commission voted to table the issue until October. The commission will gather more information, including consultations with native tribes during the next four months. In the meantime, the fact that the western Joshua tree is being considered for threatened status causes it to temporarily be treated as such, legally, giving the commission time to do its work.
The Fish and Game Commission’s October meeting will be held Oct. 12-13 in Truckee. For those unable to attend in person, the meeting will be streamed online at fgc.ca.gov. | Climate Change |
London to be the hottest place in the country on Monday The Met Office has forecast the capital could see highs of 38C today. Other areas of England will also experience hotter weather than the holiday destinations, with the Midlands predicted to see highs of 37C, East Anglia with 36C and the North West and North East with 33C.The hottest place in the country right now (8am) is Camborne in Cornwall where it is 24C. It comes as new records were broken in Wales and Northern Ireland on Sunday.Hawarden, a village in northern Wales, reached 33C while Armagh in Northern Ireland was 27.7C.Tuesday's temperatures could hit 41C in places. Boris Johnson is 'right across' heatwave despite not attending Cobra meetings Sky's political correspondent Tamara Cohen says the prime minister will not chair another COBRA meeting on the heatwave today.Kit Malthouse, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, will act as chair instead.Mr Malthouse told Sky News it is "completely unfair" to say the PM is not across the severity of the weather situation after he also failed to attend a COBRA meeting yesterday.He told Sky News: "We communicated on the Saturday or Friday as well. And I briefed him at eight o'clock on Sunday morning. So he's right across this. "I think this is a very unfair characterisation of the media around this particular issue. It is my job to chair COBRA. "It's my job to to coordinate across government and then to be accountable to him, which is exactly what I did yesterday morning when I briefed him." Train companies advise to only travel if necessary Southern Rail is one of many operators which is warning of services being affected today due to the hot weather.If you are planning to use public transport today make sure you take water with you and perhaps a handheld fan. Seek help if you feel unwell. 'I've been a meteorologist for 30 years and I've never see the charts that I've seen today' - Paul Davies from Met Office Chief meteorologist at the Met Office Paul Davies has told Sky News he has never seen weather charts like those coming through today.Mr Davies also has an ominous warning that this could be how summers regularly play out in the UK going forward.It comes as the UK looks set to see its all-time temperature record of 38.7C broken either today or tomorrow.Mr Davies said: "Tomorrow is the day we are very concerned about. There's a good chance now of hitting 40 or 41 degrees Celsius."I've been a meteorologist for about 30 years, and I've never see the charts that I've seen today."As a meteorologist, to see the brutality of the heat that we're expecting tomorrow is quite astounding."Mr Davies said "this sort of unprecedented heat could be a regular occurrence by the end of the century". He added "we need to be prepared that this could be what summers are" because "this is entirely consistent with climate change to get 40 degrees in the UK".While temperatures peak in the mid-afternoon, Mr Davies warned of an exceptionally hot night tonight.He warned that the overnight temperatures in London could be in excess of 25C and this is what is most dangerous to health."Overnight I would recommend that in any way you can, you try to cool yourself down." The latest Sky News forecast By Sky News weather teamIt will become very hot by Monday and Tuesday, with a 60% chance we could hit 40C for the first time ever in the UK.The Met Office has issued a red warning for extreme heat covering much of central England starting on Monday, while amber warnings are in force for central and southern Britain.Monday morning will be hot, dry and sunny for most, with 39C (102F) possible in the South, but there will be a bit more cloud than recently.The far north will be dull and damp for a time.The afternoon will bring little change, although northern Scotland will see more sunshine.Tuesday will be hotter than Monday, with a 60% chance of 40C (104F) in the east.The highest ever temperature in the UK was 38.7C (101.7F) in 2019.Western parts will see cooler air and some showery outbreaks moving in later. Advice for staying safe in a heatwave With the risk of heatstroke and heat exhaustion high for the next few days, there are a few things you can do to stay safe.Stay indoors for the hottest part of the dayDrink plenty of water to stay hydratedWear sun cream, a hat, stay in the shade Work from home where possibleOnly travel if necessaryCheck on vulnerable neighbours, friends and family members The sun rises on UK's hottest day This video was taken from the Sky News building in west London this morning. Surprise rain shower for Brighton Residents in parts of Brighton woke up to something they weren't expecting this morning - rain!Sky News radio journalist Richard Newman said: "A surprising start to the day just outside Brighton & Hove, where we've been hit by a brief spell of rain – which was not forecast. "The showers lasted a few minutes, but it did make things feel a bit fresher for a short period. "The south coast is not expected to reach the same temperatures as inner city areas, but it was a stifling night in Sussex and the sun's now out – and it's starting to heat up." London predicted to be hotter than Caribbean The Met Office has forecast the capital could see highs of 38C when the heatwave sweeps across England today and tomorrow.The capital's scorching temperatures mean it will be warmer than Nassau in the Bahamas (32C), Kingston in Jamaica (33C), Malaga in Spain (28C), Athens in Greece (35C), Albufeira in Portugal (28C) and Dakhla, in the Western Sahara (24C).Tuesday is predicted to be even hotter, with temperatures possibly reaching 40C - a new record for England. Temperatures set to soar today Welcome to our weather blog where we'll be covering the UK's heatwave throughout the day.With unprecedented temperatures of up to 38-40C expected in some areas of England, people are being advised to stay indoors where possible. Due to your consent preferences, you’re not able to view this. Open Privacy Options | Climate Change |
WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Florida on Wednesday and pledge support to help the state recover from the Hurricane Ian during a visit that includes a meeting with Governor Ron DeSantis, a possible rival in the 2024 presidential race.The Democratic president and the Republican governor are at odds over scores of issues, including climate change, which experts blame for Florida's increasingly wet, windy and intense hurricanes.More than 100 people died and nearly 400,000 homes and businesses remained without power in Florida on Tuesday, five days after Hurricane Ian crashed across the state. On Monday, Biden visited Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory battered by Hurricane Fiona last month.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBiden will survey Florida's badly damaged Fort Myers by helicopter, before meeting with residents and disaster-relief officials, as well as DeSantis, according to the White House.U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a reception to celebrate the Jewish New Year, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 30, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstBiden has been in regular communication with DeSantis during the crisis and the federal government picked up a significant share of the initial disaster relief. Last week, Biden said his relationship with DeSantis is "irrelevant" but "very fine."When Biden visited Florida in July after a condominium complex collapsed and killed nearly 100 people, he said, "we're letting the nation know we can cooperate when it's really important," as he and DeSantis sat shoulder to shoulder.On climate change, Biden has made reducing carbon emissions a focus of his presidency, while DeSantis backed funding to harden Florida's defenses against flooding but also opposed some previous disaster-relief aid and pushed pension funds not to consider environmental impact when they invest.Before Hurricane Ian hit, Biden had planned a rally in the political battleground state last week. Then, Democratic officials expected Biden to attack DeSantis' approach, which has included shunning COVID-19 lockdowns, mocking Biden's age and abilities, penalizing Walt Disney World Resort for opposing state laws limiting discussion of LGBTQ issues in schools and flying Venezuelan immigrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Trevor Hunnicutt. Editing by Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Astronomical observations from ground-based telescopes are sensitive to local atmospheric conditions. Anthropogenic climate change will negatively affect some of these conditions at observation sites around the globe, as a team of researchers led by the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS reports. The quality of ground-based astronomical observations delicately depends on the clarity of the atmosphere above the location from which they are made. Sites for telescopes are therefore very carefully selected. They are often high above sea level, so that less atmosphere stands between them and their targets. Many telescopes are also built in deserts, as clouds and even water vapour hinder a clear view of the night sky. A team of researchers led by the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS shows in a study, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and presented at the Europlanet Science Congress 2022 in Granada, how one of the major challenges of our time – anthropogenic climate change – now even affects our view of the cosmos. A blind spot in the selection process “Even though telescopes usually have a lifetime of several decades, site selection processes only consider the atmospheric conditions over a short timeframe. Usually over the past five years – too short to capture long-term trends, let alone future changes caused by global warming”, Caroline Haslebacher, lead author of the study and researcher at the NCCR PlanetS at the University of Bern, points out. The team of researchers from the University of Bern and the NCCR PlanetS, ETH Zurich, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) as well as the University of Reading in the UK therefore took it upon themselves to show the long-term perspective. Worsening conditions around the globe Their analysis of future climate trends, based on high resolution global climate models, shows that major astronomical observatories from Hawaii to the Canary Islands, Chile, Mexico, South Africa and Australia will likely experience an increase in temperature and atmospheric water content by 2050. This, in turn, could mean a loss in observing time as well as a loss of quality in the observations. “Nowadays, astronomical observatories are designed to work under the current site conditions and only have a few possibilities for adaptation. Potential consequences of the climatic conditions for telescopes therefore include a higher risk of condensation due to an increased dew point or malfunctioning cooling systems, which can lead to more air turbulence in the telescope dome”, Haslebacher says.
The fact that the effects of climate change on observatories had not been taken into account before was not an oversight, as study co-author Marie-Estelle Demory says, but was not least due to the state of the art: "This is the first time that such a study has been possible. Thanks to the higher resolution of the global climate models developed through the Horizon 2020 PRIMAVERA project, we were able to examine the conditions at various locations of the globe with great fidelity - something that we were unable to do with conventional models. These models are valuable tools for the work we do at the Wyss Academy", says the senior scientist at the University of Bern and member of the Wyss Academy for Nature. "This now allows us to say with certainty that anthropogenic climate change must be taken into account in the site selection for next-generation telescopes, and in the construction and maintenance of astronomical facilities," says Haslebacher. Wyss Academy for Nature The Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern is a place of innovation, where research, business, policymakers and communities come together to co-design solutions for sustainable futures. The Wyss Academy’s mission is to turn scientific knowledge into action. Combining ambitious, innovative goals with a transformative approach, it was founded to develop innovative long-term pathways that strengthen and reconcile biodiversity conservation, human well-being and the sustainable use of natural resources in a variety of landscapes throughout the world. We co-design and implement concrete projects across a swathe of regions and countries. This global structure facilitates the replication of successes and learning. The Wyss Academy for Nature currently operates Hubs in Central Europe (Bern, Switzerland), Southeast Asia, East Africa and South America. In December 2019, the Wyss Foundation, the University of Bern, and the Canton of Bern signed the tripartite framework agreement for the Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern. In May 2020, the Wyss Academy was founded as an independent foundation, the foundation Board of Trustees was appointed and the Director was elected. The Wyss Foundation donates within the framework of the Wyss Campaign for Nature a contribution of 100 million Swiss francs. The canton and the University of Bern contribute 50 million francs each. More information: www.wyssacademy.org Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) The mission of the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) is to foster dialogue and interactions between the various scientific disciplines interested in the formation, detection and characterization of other worlds within and beyond the Solar System, the search for life elsewhere in the Universe, and its implications for disciplines outside of the sciences. The members, affiliates and collaborators include astronomers, astrophysicists and astrochemists, atmospheric, climate and planetary scientists, geologists and geophysicists, biochemists and philosophers. The CSH is home to the CSH and Bernoulli Fellowships, which host young, dynamic and talented researchers from all over the world to conduct independent research. It actively run a series of programs to stimulate interdisciplinary research within the University of Bern including collaborations and/or open dialogue with Medicine, Philosophy and Theology. Mehr Informationen: https://www.csh.unibe.ch/ Bernese space exploration: With the world’s elite since the first moon landing When the second man, "Buzz" Aldrin, stepped out of the lunar module on July 21, 1969, the first task he did was to set up the Bernese Solar Wind Composition experiment (SWC) also known as the “solar wind sail” by planting it in the ground of the moon, even before the American flag. This experiment, which was planned, built and the results analysed by Prof. Dr. Johannes Geiss and his team from the Physics Institute of the University of Bern, was the first great highlight in the history of Bernese space exploration. Ever since Bernese space exploration has been among the world’s elite. The University of Bern has been participating in space missions of the major space organizations, such as ESA, NASA and JAXA. It is currently co-leading the European Space Agency’s (ESA) CHEOPS mission with the University of Geneva. In addition, Bernese researchers are among the world leaders when it comes to models and simulations of the formation and development of planets. The successful work of the Department of Space Research and Planetary Sciences (WP) from the Physics Institute of the University of Bern was consolidated by the foundation of a university competence center, the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH). The Swiss National Science Foundation also awarded the University of Bern the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, which it manages together with the University of Geneva. Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) The Europlanet Science Congress (formerly the European Planetary Science Congress) is the annual meeting place of the Europlanet Society. With a track record of 16 years and regularly attracting around 1,000 participants, the Europlanet Science Congress is the largest planetary science meeting in Europe. It covers the entire range of planetary sciences with an extensive mix of talks, workshops and poster sessions while providing a unique space for networking and exchange of experiences. More Information: https://www.epsc2022.eu/ Europlanet Since 2005, Europlanet has provided Europe’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future, engage stakeholders, policy makers and European Citizens with planetary science. The Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149 to provide access to state-of-the-art research facilities and a mechanism to coordinate Europe’s planetary science community. The Europlanet Society promotes the advancement of European planetary science and related fields for the benefit of the community and is open to individual and organisational members. The Europlanet Society is the parent organisation of the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC). More information: www.europlanet-society.org 2022/09/22 | Climate Change |
When a California pollution regulator voted last month to approve a rule banning new gas-powered car sales in the state by 2035, its officials were hailed as climate heroes. With good reason too: The move will reduce emissions by nearly 400 million metric tons between 2026 and 2040, the state calculates, preventing an estimated 1,300 deaths from heart- and lung-related ailments. The ban is the first such move in the US and among the most aggressive climate regulations in the world. It underscores the Golden State’s position as a powerful proving ground for environmental policy. What’s more, an auto industry already excited about electrification seems to have taken the whole thing in stride. Experts say the goal should be well within reach, too; after all, more than 16 percent of new cars sold in California this year were zero-emission.That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news: California still has lots of work to do, because electrifying cars alone won’t be enough to stave off the worst of climate change. In a draft report released this summer, the state’s Air Resources Board turned to another policy needed alongside banning gas cars: reducing the number of miles that Californians drive every year. “Even with improvements in clean vehicle technology and fuels,” the agency wrote, “it is still necessary to reduce driving to meet state climate and air quality commitments.”The state has committed to driving less because, for one thing, it’s going to take a while for all California cars to become zero-emission. Despite new purchases and old cars getting scrapped, the average age of cars on US roads keeps increasing—today, the average is more than 12 years. Existing gas-powered cars will stick around long after they’re banned from new car lots. Plus, there are plenty of emissions associated with cars and driving that don’t come out of a tailpipe, including manufacturing the vehicle in the first place, and the stuff that cars drive on. Building and maintaining just one lane-mile of highway creates some 3,500 tons of carbon emissions, according to one analysis.Despite its target, California has not so far managed to significantly reduce driving. In 2019, the last year of strong data, Californians were driving and riding in cars more, as measured by annual vehicle miles traveled per person, than they were 14 years earlier. They were carpooling, biking, and walking to work less. And fewer people were taking the bus or train, a pattern that has worsened since the beginning of the pandemic. By 2035, the state aims to reduce the miles traveled by vehicle by the average Californian by 19 percent, compared to 2005. But preliminary data suggests that by 2019, that number had moved in the opposite direction. (In public comments, a number of regional agencies have argued that they have reduced driving miles more than the Air Resources Board calculates in its draft report.)The rest of the US needs to drive less too. An analysis from the Rocky Mountain Institute, a sustainability research organization, estimates that by 2030 the US must reduce the miles it travels by car by 20 percent to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Beyond that, the experience of living on Earth is likely to get much worse.Unfortunately, the inertia from a century of US urban planning has made it very difficult to live in many places without driving. “What we’re trying to do is to get people to drive less, but for a lot of people, that’s just not very possible,” says Susan Handy, a professor of environmental science and policy at UC Davis. “What we need to do is rebuild and adjust our communities so that it becomes just possible to drive less,” she says.What does that look like? Improving public transit services, for one. On top of that, it requires building safer infrastructure for people who’d rather walk or bike or scooter. Davis, California, where Handy lives, has a few natural advantages. It’s usually pretty nice out, and the terrain is rather flat. But the city also has well-marked and -maintained bike lanes and lower speed limits, particularly around its university campus.Another strategy intersects, fatefully, with another Californian crisis: the lack of affordable housing. People won’t stop driving if the state builds more places to live that are closer to where people want to go, like commercial strips with lots of offices and shops. But they might take fewer trips, meaning they’ll drive less.California has passed laws to increase the supply of housing, including some that allow property owners to build more units on a single lot. But those new rules have met opposition from some cities, and building new housing takes time.In the shorter term, officials in California and other parts of the world have also experimented with policies that both make it easier to live without a car and make it more annoying to drive one. On the carrot side: California recently passed a law giving lower-income households that don’t own cars a $1,000 refundable tax credit. On the stick side: Congestion pricing schemes, like the one London has run since 2003, charge drivers steep tolls to enter busy downtown areas, sometimes at certain times of day. New York City’s congestion charge policy is slowly working its way through local and federal approvals. Officials can also make it harder and more expensive for drivers to find parking, by changing prices based on demand, or by softening or scrapping rules that dictate how much parking that housing developers have to build per home.Many of those driving-reduction policies can be unpopular, making them unappealing to lawmakers. “It’s a really hard thing for the general public, because they are so reliant on their cars, and it’s hard to imagine being able to live as well as they do without having to drive so much,” says Handy. Meeting emissions targets in California and many other places might depend on convincing people that life would improve for themselves and the planet without a car. “What if you never had to get on the freeway and be stuck in traffic?” Handy suggests. “Wouldn’t your life be better?” Put another way: Electric cars can be fun to drive, but mitigating climate change requires finding ways to make them more fun not to drive. | Climate Change |
The Greens will support Labor’s Climate Change Bill when it hits both houses of Parliament but leader Adam Bandt has vowed to continue the “fight to stop” the government opening more fossil fuel projects.The government needed to secure the minor party’s support to pass the legislation in Senate but the Greens had demanded Labor introduce a moratorium on future coal and gas mines.Mr Bandt announced his members would throw their support behind the bill but said it would still challenge the government to end fossil fuel production.“To be crystal clear, the Greens have improved a weak climate bill,” Mr Bandt said during his National Press Club Address on Wednesday afternoon.Stream more on politics with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022.“But the fight to stop Labor opening new coal and gas mines continues and in this Parliament, the only obstacle to greater climate ambition is Labor.“People need to be clear-eyed about the importance of this bill and that this Government is bringing a bucket of water to a house fire.”The Greens had initially threatened to block the bill over the “weak” 43 per cent 2030 emissions reduction target and concerns that it could be ratcheted back by future governments.Labor then amended the bill to clearly enshrine the 43 per cent target as a floor rather than a ceiling, but the Greens continued to steadfastly refuse to support the legislation if it failed to act on coal and gas.Mr Bandt said the Greens were able to “secure improvements” to the bill despite the government being “unwilling to adopt science-based targets”.He said the party was able to ensure the legislation was “Dutton-proofed” to include a genuine floor for the emissions reduction target, as well as include “greater transparency” and strengthen the requirements on the Climate Change Authority.“Government agencies, such as Export Finance Australia, that in the past have funded coal and gas projects, will for the first time be forced to take climate targets into account,” he said.“That would see them curbed from supporting fossil fuels. They join a range of other agencies with new limits, including Infrastructure Australia and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund.”While the government has refused to include a moratorium on new coal and gas, it has confirmed it would review existing environmental laws.The Environmental and Biodiversity Protection Conservation (EPBC) act was formally reviewed last year by former ACCC boss Graeme Samuel who recommended the legislation be strengthened to require development projects to consider the impact on climate change.The Greens have pushed the government to explicitly insert a climate trigger in the EPBC act, with Mr Bandt declaring that the current environmental laws were “woeful”.“It is woeful that under this country's environment laws you can approve projects, even if they make climate change worse and destroy the environment,” he said.“There are a number of other ways that we can tackle this question of stopping the opening of new coal and gas projects.“We have been clear all along that we are open-minded about how that happens but there needs to be a climate trigger in our environment laws.”The Greens party room came to the decision on Tuesday night but Mr Bandt confirmed the caucus did not unanimously support the move to support the bill.“We made it clear we have a consensus decision. Consensus is consensus and we will all vote for it,” he said.“You would expect during the course of the discussion people will put different views but we have come to a consensus decision which we will all unanimously vote for.”The bill will be voted on in the House of Representatives sometime this week before it is sent to the Senate where it is now expected to pass when Parliament returns in September. | Climate Change |
Swathes of England may face drought as soon as August if the hot and dry weather persists, the Environment Agency has confirmed. A dry spring and early summer have already withered rivers and reservoirs and watered down water quality in many parts of England, pushing most of the country into "prolonged dry weather" status, the first of four drought categories.
Whether areas will tip into the second "drought" stage hinges on when the rain returns, and whether it adds up to more or less than usual. Chances could be washed away within weeks if it rains, or the risk could remain for months.Plenty of dry weather is forecast for the next few weeks, with another heatwave on the cards, but chances of rain are increasing during mid August.If areas did move into the second "drought" stage, last experienced amid similar conditions in 2018-19 and 2011-12, water companies could limit non-essential domestic and commercial water use, or apply for special permits to extract extra water from the environment. Southern Water last week applied for a drought permit to allow it to continue to use the River Test, whose levels are falling, to supply tap water to the region.
Nick Price, its water resources strategy manager, said "the risk is increasing that we will need to use a drought permit in order to continue supplying water." More on Climate Change Warm weather brewing could fuel another heatwave, Met Office says Polar bear rescued after getting condensed milk can stuck in mouth in Russia UK heatwave: Families left counting cost of 'devastating' house fires in Wennington The company urged its customers to reduce water use where possible, to help limit the impact on the river's habitat.Hosepipe bansWater companies, which can seek to limit demand, may decide for themselves whether to impose hosepipe bans.The National Drought Group, with members including water companies, the Environment Agency and the National Farmers' Union (NFU), are meeting tomorrow morning to agree how to protect water resources together.The group meets when circumstances demand, last convening in March and before that in throughout 2018-2020 as it handled the last drought.The NFU said the prolonged dry weather was hitting hardest on farms in central, eastern and southern parts of the country."Combines are already rolling in some areas for this year's harvest but it's still too early to tell about quality and yield," its deputy president Tom Bradshaw said.The lack of rain has severely hampered grass growth which could hit feed supplies for the winter.Farmers have had to irrigate their crops early and the next two months are expected to be critical for their yields.Evidence of dry weather is already written into the land in the form of browning grass, lower river flows, dried-up ponds, and surges of bright algae. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Tom Heap looks at what the aviation industry is doing to become more climate-friendly. Last week's mega heatwave - which unleashed record-breaking temperatures of over 40C, the highest ever night time heat, and new records for such large areas of the country - exacerbated the already dry conditions in some areas.The Environment Agency had to carry out more fish rescues than usual for this time of year, as the animals struggled in higher temperatures and lower oxygenated water.The East of England is currently particularly dry as the wet spells last week have so far bypassed the area.Flooding is expected to become more frequent in the UK due to climate change.But flood water can be harder to retain in the ground if it runs off quickly into rivers. Reservoirs can capture floodwater more easily, but the water tends to be of poorer quality, as intense rain flushes away more nutrients.Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm. All on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis. | Climate Change |
Climate change and a legacy of British colonial rule contributed to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Pakistan, a new report says. Photo: Zahid Hussain (AP)Pakistan’s 2022 monsoon season has been devastating, with 1,545 people dead, including 552 children, according to the latest update from the country’s National Disaster Management Authority. Tens of millions more have been displaced by the resulting floods, which at one point covered more than a third of the country.OffEnglishIt’s a disaster of immense scale. And though Pakistan has faced destructive, widespread rains and floods before, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called the ongoing inundation “the worst in the history of Pakistan.” Now, an international group of 25 scientists say we can also officially call the monsoons and floods a catastrophe of climate change. The determination comes in a report from World Weather Attribution, a globally collaborative climate science project.In their analysis of this year’s monsoon season, the researchers found its severity was likely heavily exacerbated by human-caused climate change. Specifically, warming global temperatures intensified the rains by about 50% and worsened the situation in the country’s southern provinces by an estimated 75%. The scientists further determined that rainfall of this scale can now be expected about once in every 100 years in Pakistan, under our current level of climate change (i.e. 1.2 degrees C of warming). With just 0.8 C of additional heat, “rainfall will significantly increase further,” the authors noted. Over 33 million people are displaced by the flooding, and Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority has said more than 1.7 million homes were completely destroyed. Photo: Arshad Butt (AP)“We have very large uncertainties,” said Sjoukje Philip, a climate scientist at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and co-author of the attribution study, in an interview with Inside Climate News. “But based on observations and models together, and combining that with our theoretical knowledge, we now find that it’s likely that climate change played a role.”In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, there’s usually not enough data to tie a specific event to climate change. Scientists have mountains of research supporting the overall trends, but it can be difficult to confidently assess if and how climate change contributed to any individual hurricane, rainstorm, or drought—all things that happened prior to the advent of fossil fuels. It takes lots of modeling and analysis to tease out climate change’s effects from random variability, come up with a formal attribution, and quantify the impacts. But these determinations are coming faster than ever, as extreme weather events become increasingly common and the science advances. In fact, in the case of present-day heatwaves, an earlier World Weather Attribution study concluded that each and every one is now directly attributable to climate change in some way. In Pakistan’s case, a massive spring heatwave in South Asia is part of what helped set the stage for summer’s awful monsoons. The atmosphere could hold more water than normal, and soils (particularly in the arid south) were dry, depleted, and left unabsorbent by drought.The injustice extends beyond that of disproportionate climate impacts. The country’s propensity for flooding has also been exacerbated by a legacy of British colonialism. For instance, under British rule, low lying areas were drained and developed for farmland, according to the Inside Climate News report.“Taking all of these factors together, it is important to remember that the disaster was a result of vulnerability constructed over a number of years,” Ayesha Siddiqi, a University of Cambridge geographer and report co-author, told the outlet. “It shouldn’t be seen ahistorically as the outcome of just one kind of sudden or sporadic weather event.” The ability to quickly and accurately attribute a disaster to climate change could help continue to push the needle on public concern, empower survivors in legal fights for reparations, or even shift the tides of global policy. And even if it does none of that, at least we can now pinpoint the extent to which swathes of humanity are being screwed over by the fossil fuel addiction of a much smaller group. | Climate Change |
Campaigners have urged governments to intervene after oil companies were accused of misleading the public about their commitment to reducing carbon emissions.Oil and gas companies including Britain’s Shell and BP were urged to “stop their deception” this week as the US House committee on oversight and reform released documents showing that oil industry executives privately downplayed their public messages on efforts to tackle the climate crisis.The memo claimed that internal BP documents highlighted how carbon capture and storage (CCS) – a nascent technology that involves inserting CO2 emissions into underground rock formations – could “enable the full use of fossil fuels across the energy transition and beyond”.Congressional investigators also unearthed an internal Shell email discussing carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) in which an executive said: “We want to be careful to not talk about CCUS as prolonging the life of oil, gas or fossil fuels writ large.”The committee said internal Shell messaging guidance – developed to “insulate Shell” from lawsuits about “greenwashing” and “misleading investors” on the climate crisis – calls on employees to emphasise that net zero emissions is “a collective ambition for the world” rather than a “Shell goal or target”.The guidance tells employees: “Please do not give the impression that Shell is willing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to levels that do not make business sense.”In separate documents, the oil companies Exxon and Chevron appeared to ask the industry-led Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) to “remove language that potentially commits members to enhanced climate-related governance, strategy, risk management, and performance metrics and targets” and to avoid any “explicit commitment for OGCI companies to align their advocacy with their climate related positions” – including advocacy for the 2015 Paris agreement.Climate campaigners and some investors have pushed energy companies to commit to more ambitious emissions reduction targets. The activist investor Follow This has tabled resolutions at shareholder meetings in an attempt to get companies to agree to targets in line with the Paris accord.Shell lost a landmark ruling in the Dutch courts last year, when a judge ordered it to cut its global carbon emissions by 45% by the end of 2030 compared with 2019 levels. Campaigners hope the incoming chief executive, Wael Sawan, whose appointment was announced on Thursday, can increase the company’s investment in green energy.The committee said that, after Shell posted on Twitter asking others what they would do to reduce emissions, a communications executive wrote privately that he agreed this could be seen as “gaslighting” the public. “We are, after all, in a tweet like this implying others need to sacrifice without focusing on ourselves,” he said.Carolyn Maloney, the chair of the House committee on oversight and reform, said: “As we face more deadly, extreme weather around the globe, fossil fuel companies are reaping record profits and ramping up their misleading PR tactics to distract from their central role in fuelling the climate crisis.“My committee’s investigation leaves no doubt that, in the words of one company official, big oil is ‘gaslighting’ the public. These companies claim they are part of the solution to climate change, but internal documents reveal that they are continuing with business as usual. I call on the big fossil fuel companies to stop their deception and cut their emissions now – before it is too late.”Jamie Peters, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Big oil firms like Shell, Exxon and Chevron can try to gloss over their murky PR image as much as they like, as we’ve seen in the millions of dollars pumped into disingenuous greenwash campaigns by the industry. But though unsurprising, this bombshell disclosure confirms what remains utterly transparent about big oil. That it has every intention to keep on extracting in pursuit of profit, rather than transforming how it operates for the sake of our communities and our planet.“Millions are already experiencing dangerous climate breakdown in extreme heatwaves and devastating floods, like those in Pakistan, as the world’s biggest polluters continue to shirk their responsibilities. They’ll continue to act only in the interests of their shareholders unless governments intervene.”The Guardian revealed last month that BP has spent more than £800,000 on social media influence ads in the UK this year that champion the company’s investments in green energy.A Shell spokesperson said: “Of the nearly 500,000 pages provided to the committee, the small handful they chose to highlight are evidence of Shell’s extensive efforts to set aggressive targets, evolve its portfolio and meaningfully participate in the ongoing energy transition.”An Exxon spokesperson said: “We have supported the Paris agreement from its start in 2015 and continue to support the US government’s participation in the framework. The selective publication of dated emails, without context, is a deliberate attempt to generate a narrative that does not reflect the commitment of ExxonMobil – and its employees, to address climate change and play a leading role in the transition to a net zero future.”BP told Bloomberg it has set near-term targets consistent with its ambition to become a net zero company by 2050.Chevron has been contacted for comment. | Climate Change |
Vast swathes of fire-ravaged pine forest must be replanted and managed differently to avoid future blazes fuelled by global heating, French experts have said, as wildfires – several caused by arson – continued to burn across France and Spain.Officials in the south-west Gironde département said on Monday that two huge fires – one at La Teste-de-Buch that destroyed 7,000 hectares (17,297 acres) of forest, and another at Landiras that ravaged 13,800 – were both under control, although still burning.“After 12 days of ferocious fighting, both fires have been mastered,” regional government official Fabienne Buccio told reporters. She warned, however, that rising temperatures and winds meant some hotspots would inevitably flare up again.More than 36,000 people evacuated since the start of the Gironde fires on 12 July have almost all been able to return home. However, a new blaze near Uzès in the southern Gard département had destroyed 40ha of land since Sunday, officials said.A firefighter attempts to extinguish a ground fire in Louchats, in the Gironde region. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/ReutersIn Brittany, police on Monday opened a formal investigation after declaring that two fires that have burned through nearly 2,000ha of heathland in the Monts d’Arrée area were both “certainly” caused by arson, with ignition points at regular 30m intervals.Several wildfires – some of them also apparently started deliberately – continue to burn across Spain, meanwhile, which is estimated to have lost almost 200,000 (494,210 acres) hectares to the flames so far this year.Firefighters on the Canary island of Tenerife are battling a blaze with a 27km perimeter that has torn through 2,700ha over the past few days, with their task complicated by adverse weather conditions including very high temperatures.On Sunday, officers from the Catalan police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, arrested a man suspected of starting three blazes. The president of Castilla y León, one of the worst affected regions, also said fires there seemed to have been set on purpose.“I’ve just spoken to the interior minister and informed him that the hand of man is behind the three new blazes in Castilla y León,” Alfonso Fernández Mañueco tweeted on Sunday night. “I want those responsible to end up in court.”The regional environment minister of Castilla y León – where the fires have already claimed the life of a firefighter and farmer – triggered an angry backlash on Monday after suggesting that “environmental fashions” may have contributed to the blazes.Juan Carlos Suárez-Quiñones told Cadena Ser radio that while both the landscape and farming practices had changed, “certain new environmental fashions when it comes to clearing riverbanks and other things make it harder to clear the mountains”.Asked whether he was saying environmentalism had aggravated the fires, the minister said: “It’s not the cause. But it is one of the things we need to work on … We’re all responsible for the forests.”Santiago M Barajas, a member of the environmental alliance Ecologists in Action, hit back, accusing Súarez-Quiñones of seeking to evade his responsibilities.Firefighters on the Canary island of Tenerife are battling a blaze with a 27km perimeter. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images“You’re the one whose responsibility this is minister,” he tweeted. “Blaming ecologists for your incompetence is really awful.”The regional environment minister’s comments echoed those made the day before by Juan García-Gallardo, the far-right Vox party politician who serves as the vice-president of Castilla y León. García-Gallardo told El Diario de Burgos that “radical environmentalism and green policies have turned the countryside into a tinderbox”.The Spanish government, however, disagreed. The interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said it was clear that “climate change plays a big part in all these tragedies and emergencies”.Last week, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, was even blunter, saying: “Climate change kills: it kills people, as we’ve seen; it also kills our ecosystem, our biodiversity, and it also destroys the things we as a society hold dear – our houses, our businesses, our livestock.”As thoughts turned to replanting, French forestry experts were unanimous in saying that not only the choice of species but also much tougher forest management rules would be critical in combating future wildfires amid the growing climate crisis.Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said ‘climate change kills: it kills people, as we’ve seen; it also kills our ecosystem, our biodiversity, and it also destroys the things we as a society hold dear’. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, last week promised a “major national project” to rebuild and regrow the stricken south-western region, but said it would necessarily have to be “under different rules” dictated by global heating.Commander Alexandre Jouassard of France’s civil protection service said a top priority must be easy access for firefighters. “Every time, that’s what makes the task so much more complicated for us,” he told Le Parisien newspaper.“Woods left abandoned, undergrowth uncleared, difficult to penetrate … That has to change.” Experts note that well-managed forests such as those of the Landes region further south, which suffered massive fires in 1949, have escaped recent blazes.“There’s a proverb that goes, in the beginning, a fire can be extinguished with a bucket of water,” Jean-Yves Caullet, head of the French national forestry board ONF, said. “At-risk forests need well-maintained access paths, watchtowers, hydrants.”One issue that needed urgently addressing, Caullet said, is that the tens of thousands of small private proprietors who own 75% of France’s woodland are required to clear undergrowth, brushwood and dead branch clearance only if their patch exceeds 15ha.“When you realise a catastrophic fire can start on half a hectare, you see how vital it will be to encourage a much more collective approach among these small owners – many of whom are not even aware they own a patch of woodland,” he said.Christophe Béchu, France’s green transition minister, said the government planned an intensive campaign aimed at private forest owners, noting that clearance rules were obeyed only 30-50% of the time depending on the region.Wildfires in France chartOther measures include public information campaigns, starting as early as primary school, on the significantly increased risks of forest fires, with statistics showing that about 90% are originated – either accidentally or deliberately – by humans.Experts have also urged local authorities to counter the major risk of fires in areas of woodland and habitation, on the edge of larger forests. A 2016 study in one southern area found these account for 47% of the département’s fires, but only 15% of its area.Finally, the choice of tree species must be paramount when replanting, which is unlikely before a full year has elapsed. New trees must obviously be suited to the southern climate, and also reflect a wider range of biodiversity, experts say.“Monoculture is not good news,” Hélène Soubelet of the Biodiversity research foundation told Le Parisien. “We should also be thinking about natural regeneration – those species that grow back will be better adapted to a post-fire landscape.” | Climate Change |
CNN — Australia, which has one of the world’s worst records on extinctions, on Tuesday announced a 10-year plan to prevent any more species from dying out in the country by protecting its most threatened plants and animals. Launching the plan at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia’s Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek said the Labor government had a “very ambitious target” to conserve more than 30% of Australia’s land mass by 2030. “We’re talking about an extra 50 million hectares (about 124,000 acres) of landscape that we need to find and to manage in a way that protects the landscape and the species that depend on it,” Plibersek said. The plan brings Australia into line with more than 100 other countries, including the United States, which have pledged to protect 30% of their land and 30% of their ocean by 2030. The initial coalition of countries announced their commitment ahead of the One Planet summit in 2021. In recent years, Australia’s wildlife has suffered due to natural disasters, land clearing, feral predators and the effects of the climate crisis, including the “Black Summer” fires that tore across southern states in 2019-20, killing or displacing nearly 3 billion animals, according to estimates from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The fires contributed to the bleak outlook for Australian biodiversity detailed in the State of the Environment 2021 report. Belatedly released this July, the report found that Australia had lost more mammal species than any other continent and “continues to have one of the highest rates of species decline among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.” The previous Coalition government had opted not to release the report ahead of the federal election in May, with some speculating that its contents were so alarming that the government worried it could cost them votes. They lost the election anyway, which saw a higher number of environmental advocates win seats across the country. The new plan identifies 20 places and 110 species that will become the focus of conservation efforts. The government says the priority species were selected based on several factors, including their uniqueness and risk of extinction, while the priority places represent a “broad range of Australian landscapes and ecosystems.” The areas include the forests of Far North Queensland, Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, and Kangaroo Island in South Australia. “By focusing in on these species and these places, we have the biggest chance of success,” Plibersek said. The World Wildlife Fund Australia’s Chief Conservation Officer, Rachel Lowry, applauded the government’s commitment to Australia’s threatened species but said the plan should go further. “Australia has more than 1,900 listed threatened species. This plan picks 110 winners. It’s unclear how it will help our other ‘non priority’ threatened species such as our endangered greater glider for example,” Lowry said in a statement. The Australian Conservation Foundation’s nature program manager, Basha Stasak, said “stopping the destruction of wildlife habitat is the key” to achieving the government’s goal of no new extinctions. Stasak added that the government’s plan is “ambitious but essential if future generations of Australians are to see animals like koalas, mountain pygmy possums, greater gliders and gang-gang cockatoos,” all of which are listed as endangered or vulnerable species. The plan also includes continued emphasis on “actions that can most benefit threatened species,” such as minimizing the impact of threats like feral cats and foxes, getting the community involved in and leading recovery efforts, and helping priority species adapt to climate change so they ultimately become more resilient. Feral predators introduced by settlers during colonization have multiplied and played an outsized role in Australia’s environmental degradation. A recent study published in the journal Diversity and Distributions estimated that foxes and cats kill almost 700 million reptiles, 510 million birds and 1.4 billion mammals every year in Australia. | Climate Change |
This time a year ago Boris Johnson was preparing for the high-profile COP26 UN summit on climate change, hosted in Glasgow.It wasn't a perfect gathering by any means, and Mr Johnson's own record on environmental issues was far from blemish-free, but real progress was made on coal, forests and national emission reduction goals.
The prime minister basked in the spotlight, glad-handing and cajoling, with then Prince Charles and his son William making speeches, charming world leaders and helping to position the UK as a leader on climate change.Liz Truss's speech stopped by protest - Politics latestTwelve months on and it's a very different picture.
The government is grappling with the intertwined energy and cost of living emergencies, and for many, the rosy glow of COP26 is fading fast.In fact, it has been reported that our new prime minister asked our new king, famously passionate about protecting the environment, not to attend COP27 in Egypt next month, despite being invited. More on Liz Truss Liz Truss's month of mayhem: From bumpy rides to Balmoral to bumpier battles in Birmingham Liz Truss to hold meetings with EU leaders after tumultuous party conference Liz Truss: Fighting for her political life Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 'We needed to send direct message to PM' Instead, Liz Truss appears set on beginning a new era of fossil fuels in the UK, lifting the moratorium on fracking for shale gas, and preparing to hand out around 100 new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea.Campaigners are worried about what looks to be a loss of conviction on tackling climate change, and today two members of Greenpeace crashed her party conference speech, protesting against fracking among other things. Ms Truss dismissed them as "part of the anti-growth coalition", to much applause.This language is new, and it echoes the terms of a review, ordered by Ms Truss, into the UK's legally enshrined net zero carbon emissions by 2050 commitment.The purpose of the review is to make sure that the policy is "pro-growth and pro-business" and to "scrutinise the green transition to make sure investment continues to boost economic growth and create jobs as well as increase energy security."The man at the helm of the business department and therefore the clean energy transition and much of the government's climate change policy is Jacob Rees-Mogg.Read more:How Liz Truss's speech looks as a word cloudNineties band M People 'livid' song was used in Truss's conference speechHome secretary attacks Tory MPs who 'staged coup' over tax cut Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player What are people saying now that COP26 is over? Although like Ms Truss he has acknowledged the importance of renewable energy sources and nuclear power, Mr Rees-Mogg has previously warned of "climate alarmism" and remarked that he wants his constituents to have cheap energy, "rather more than I would like them to have windmills".Ms Truss has publicly stated she is committed to net zero, but to many observers, there is a distinct slow down on the issue.Perhaps, for a prime minister buffeted by problems, it is one crisis too many to deal with.Campaigners will be deeply concerned that her government is starting to frame those who are driving a green agenda as anti-growth when her predecessor saw it as a great economic opportunity. | Climate Change |
In exchange for supporting the Inflation Reduction Act, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., insisted that the legislation leave in place a tax loophole that benefits high earners in the private equity and real estate industries. That deal set off a flurry of media speculation about her motives, but it wasn’t the only successful request she made in order to secure her vote for the landmark climate legislation.To properly address climate change, Sinema told her fellow Democrats, the bill needed to provide an extra $4 billion in funding for mitigating the effects of drought on her home state and the American West.Unlike preserving the loophole that benefits wealthy campaign donors, the drought funding has resonated with local voters.“I have not been a fan of some of the roadblocks that Sinema’s put up against the bill, but she came through in the end and I think the addition of the drought money was extremely, badly needed and an extremely important part of making it a good bill,” Hazel Chandler, a Phoenix-based field coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force, told Yahoo News. “I'm really excited about it.”Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona, walks through the US Capitol building in Washington, D.C., US, On Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)A Senate aide told Bloomberg News that the funding would be used to secure private water rights and to help municipalities conserve water. The goal is to increase the level of water in the Colorado River system, on which Arizona relies for much of its water for homes and farming.The funds will also go to aiding farmers who are contending with water supply problems by helping them find ways of maintaining crop yields with less water, KOLD News 13, a local CBS television affiliate in Tucson, Ariz., reported.“In Arizona, we know right now we are facing an unprecedented 1200-year drought, so this legislation is going to allow us to help provide some compensation to farmers in the short term who may have to have their fields go fallow for a short period of time,” Sinema told the outlet.The desert state has always been dry, but climate change and a growing population have made water scarcity a bigger problem. Hotter average temperatures, increased water evaporation and more extreme weather, including stronger heat waves, have plunged the Southwest into an ongoing drought since 2000. The last 20 years have been the driest two decades in the Southwest 1,200 years, according to research published earlier this year.A man walks on a finger of exposed land at Lake Mead reservoir during the drought on July 9, 2022 in Boulder City, Nevada. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)The last two years, which have been more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 Celsius) warmer than the historical average in the region, have been particularly dry. From Jan. 2020 through Aug. 2021, the Southwest received the lowest total precipitation and had the third-highest daily average temperatures of any 20-month period since 1895, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.The Colorado River has been so diminished that last week the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned that Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which are both man-made reservoirs on the river, are at “dangerously low levels.”“The conditions in the American West which we're seeing around the Colorado River basin have been so dry for more than 20 years that we're no longer speaking of a drought,” Lis Mullin Bernhardt, an ecosystems expert at UNEP, said at the time. “We refer to it as ‘aridification’ — a new, very dry normal.”In June, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee maintaining “critical levels” at Lake Mead and Lake Powell will require large reductions in water deliveries.Buoys sit on the beach near the Wahweap Marina at Lake Powell on March 28, 2022 in Page, Arizona. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)“What has been a slow-motion train wreck for 20 years is accelerating, and the moment of reckoning is near,” John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said at the same Senate hearing.Last year, California, Arizona and Nevada signed an agreement to take less water from Lake Mead, and in May the Department of Interior announced it is withholding some water from Lake Powell to prevent the reservoir from dropping so low that Glen Canyon Dam would not be able to generate electricity. (The lake is on the border of Arizona and Utah.)“I drove to Lake Powell a year ago and I was just appalled by what I saw,” Chandler said. “It used to be that the lake came clear up to the road for miles, and it was so beautiful, and the lake now looks like it’s miles away. The only place you find the lake against the road is at the dam.”Sinema was not the only one pushing for the drought-relief funds. Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Michael Bennet of Colorado issued a joint statement announcing that the money had been secured in the legislation.A bathtub ring watermark at Hoover Dam/Lake Mead, the country's largest man-made water reservoir, formed by the dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States, has dropped 2 inches every day since February (26 feet in one year), is viewed on July 12, 2022 near Boulder City, Nevada. (George Rose/Getty Images)“The Western United States is experiencing an unprecedented drought, and it is essential that we have the resources we need to support our states’ efforts to combat climate change, conserve water resources, and protect the Colorado River Basin,” the senators said in a statement last Friday.“In the Southwest, our biggest threat is not enough water — drought — and it's taken a big toll on our state,” Chandler said. “It's really concerning. This is our water supply. If we don't pay attention to this, our children could be climate change refugees because they have no water.”Whatever the Democratic Party’s disagreements over Sinema’s insistence on the carried interest loophole, Chandler and Sinema agree on the imperative for Arizona to find new ways of using water more efficiently.“Our job is to find new … innovative ways to reuse water, to be efficient with water and to find new ways to engage in farming to keep those yields while using less water,” Sinema told KOLD. | Climate Change |
Widespread greenwashing by businesses is compromising efforts to prepare for climate impacts such as floods and heatwaves, the chair of the Environment Agency will say in a speech on Monday.Emma Howard Boyd, addressing the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment Annual Forum, will warn businesses are embedding liability and storing up risk for their investors by giving the false impression they are addressing the climate crisis.The danger is, she says, that people “won’t realise this deception until it is too late”.Howard Boyd addresses concerns over greenwashing after the climate change committee said last week in its annual progress report that the government was failing to enact the policies needed to reach the UK’s net zero targets.Lord Deben, chair of the committee and a former Conservative environment secretary, said the government had set strong targets on cutting emissions but policy to achieve them was lacking. “The government has willed the ends, but not the means,” he said.Howard Boyd, who leaves the Environment Agency in September, is interim chair of the Green Finance Institute. She will say that nearly £650bn of public and private infrastructure investment planned by 2030 is at considerable risk unless increasingly severe climate impacts are considered in planning and delivery.“As with the government’s ambition for net zero by 2050, delivering on climate resilience and nature recovery requires robust, consistent and trusted data,” she will say in her speech.“If we fail to identify and address greenwashing, we allow ourselves false confidence that we are already addressing the causes and treating the symptoms of the climate crisis.”Howard Boyd is set to praise the work of activist NGOs including ShareAction, Make My Money Matter and ClientEarth for their work calling out greenwashing.Earlier this year, the Bank of England’s first climate stress test suggested that UK banks and insurers would end up taking on nearly £340bn-worth of climate-related losses by 2050 unless action was taken to curb rising temperatures and sea levels.Howard Boyd says there is underinvestment in climate adaptation. Action was needed and she is calling for a collaboration between the public and private sectors.“Around the world, just 5% of climate finance goes towards resilience and virtually none of that comes from the private sector,” she will say.Howard Boyd wants to see more government involvement to drive investment in climate adaptation, starting with a Treasury-commissioned review to assess the economics of climate resilience.“This would help us understand how preparedness for climate shocks supports sustainable economic growth, establishes an overarching ambition for adaptation investment and a plan to achieve it,” she will say. | Climate Change |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and some communities are asking residents to reduce water use as much of the state is in a moderate drought.More than half of Maine and parts of eastern Vermont are also in a moderate drought, and a small section of southeastern New Hampshire is in a severe drought, according to the latest federal drought monitor map released Thursday.The city of Lebanon on Thursday imposed outdoor water use restrictions, joining 50 other community water systems with similar limits, WMUR-TV reported. The restrictions are on outdoor water use, such as watering lawns and washing cars, during the day.MOST WIDESPREAD DROUGHT IN 9 YEARS EXPECTED TO EXPAND The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is asking residents to cut back on water use as drought continues. "Limiting watering to early morning and after 7 at night to prevent wasted water due to evaporation is a great start," said Stacey Herbold, of the Department of Environmental Services.KENTUCKY GOV. ANDY BESHEAR UPDATES EFFORTS TO OVERCOME MARION WATER SHORTAGEIncreasing temperatures each year due to climate change are exacerbating droughts, making conditions more severe, she said. | Climate Change |
Sign up for The Weekly Planet, Robinson Meyer’s newsletter about living through climate change, here.Late last month, analysts at the investment bank Credit Suisse published a research note about America’s new climate law that went nearly unnoticed. The Inflation Reduction Act, the bank argued, is even more important than has been recognized so far: The IRA will “will have a profound effect across industries in the next decade and beyond” and could ultimately shape the direction of the American economy, the bank said. The report shows how even after the bonanza of climate-bill coverage earlier this year, we’re still only beginning to understand how the law works and what it might mean for the economy.The report made a few broad points in particular that are worth attending to: First, the IRA might spend twice as much as Congress thinks. Many of the IRA’s most important provisions, such as its incentives for electric vehicles and zero-carbon electricity, are “uncapped” tax credits. That means that as long as you meet their terms, the government will award them: There’s no budget or limit written into the law that restricts how much the government can spend. The widely cited figure for how much the IRA will spend to fight climate change—$374 billion—is in large part determined by the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of how much those tax credits will get used.But that estimate is wrong, the bank claims. In fact, so many people and businesses will use those tax credits that the IRA’s total spending is likely to be more than $800 billion, double what the CBO projects. And because federal spending tends to catalyze private investment, that could send total climate spending across the economy to roughly $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years. That’s significantly more money flowing into green-energy industries than the CBO projected, though it’s unclear if that additional money will lead to more carbon reductions than earlier analyses have projected.Second, the U.S. is “poised to become the world’s leading energy provider,” according to the bank. America is already the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas. The IRA could further enhance its advantage in all forms of energy production, giving it a “competitive advantage in low-cost clean electricity and hydrogen production, infrastructure, geologic storage, and human capital,” the report states. By 2029, U.S. solar and wind could be the cheapest in the world at less than $5 per megawatt-hour, the bank projects; it will also become competitive in hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and wind turbines. (The law will help America’s battery industry, but the bank doesn’t see the U.S. becoming the world’s biggest battery producer, given that China already has such a dominant advantage.)Perhaps rosiest of all was the bank’s view of major risks to the IRA. The bill passed with not even a single Republican vote, but the bank concludes that the GOP is relatively unlikely to repeal the law, even if they take the White House in 2024. That’s because it would hurt their own voters most: “Republican-leaning states are likely to see the most investment, job, and economic benefits from the IRA,” the report claims. Instead, the IRA is most likely to stumble because America still struggles with building out its energy infrastructure: The country might not be able to get government approval to permit enough power lines, green infrastructure, and carbon-injection wells for the law to matter, the bank said. This risk is all the more heightened now that Senator Joe Manchin’s permitting-reform bill—which, for all its flaws, would have clearly allowed for more renewable transmission construction—has failed. Powerful business groups are also lobbying to revise the most transmission-friendly sections from that bill if Congress revisits it.The Credit Suisse report is truly remarkable. What stuck with me most was this declaration: For big corporations, the IRA “definitively changes the narrative from risk mitigation to opportunity capture.” In other words, companies should no longer worry that they might be unprepared for future climate regulation, such as a carbon tax. They should be scared of missing out on the economic growth that the energy transition (and the IRA) will bring about.If the bill’s passage wasn’t signal enough, the report shows that climate change as a political issue—and frankly environmental protection more broadly—has arrived to a wholly new place. For decades, the country’s biggest climate advocates have tried to reduce the harm that the economy causes to the environment. Now they find themselves tasked with the biggest story in the economy itself.Perhaps most strange, even if the United States slips into recession in the next year, the IRA will only become more important. Historically, economists and businesses have treated helping the environment as a product of prosperity—if the economy is good, then companies can afford to do the right thing. But the IRA’s programs and incentives will keep flowing no matter the macro environment, which makes betting on clean energy one of the most certain economic trends of the next few years. Clean energy is now the safe, smart, government-backed bet for conservative investors. It’s really a shocking reversal of the past 40 years. It is such a change that it hasn’t yet been metabolized by the world of people involved in the issue.So inspired by the vigor of Credit Suisse’s forecast, let me venture a few predictions of my own. The number of Americans working in a climate-relevant industry is going to explode. It is going to undergo what you might call a techification. I was a nerd and a dreamer in high school in the late aughts, which meant I paid attention to the start-ups of that era—such as Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr—in their early years. I remember that fateful moment around 2010 when the valence of the industry switched—it was right around when The Social Network came out—and working in tech went from being a career choice for dorky optimists to the default career track for many ambitious college students. A similar switch is coming for companies working on climate change: The opportunity will be too large, the money too persuasive, the problems too intriguing.Finally, those of us who have long worked in climate change—and here I include myself, who started covering this topic in 2015—should have some excitement and even humility about this deluge of new talent. Even setting its arduous politics aside, managing climate change is a legitimately difficult technical and cultural problem—it’s going to require as many attentive and enthusiastic brains as possible, and the path to decarbonizing always required an infusion of new workers, investment, and good will. If you don’t yet work in the industry, but have always cared about climate change as an issue, well, this is your moment to get involved. These companies are going to need engineers, yes, but also programmers, accountants, marketers, HR staff, general counsels—there is space for everyone now.The fight against climate change is going to change more in the next four years than it has in the past 40. The great story of our lives is just beginning. Welcome aboard. | Climate Change |
As we have reached the halfway milestone between COP26 and Cop27, it’s time to assess the progress the financial industry has made. Overview
At the Net Zero Delivery Summit, supported by LSEG, discussions will focus on maintaining momentum on key financial policy initiatives following COP26.
The summit provides an important platform to review the progress made by the financial community in achieving COP26 commitments.
LSEG is supporting this summit to accelerate the just transition to net zero via a global reallocation of capital which shares the costs and benefits of reaching net zero fairly between, and within, countries.
Watch summit on demand
Watch the livestream in Refinitiv Workspace or Eikon Accelerating the just transition to net zero Decarbonising the whole global economy is critical to minimise the worst consequences of climate change.
We get views from the experts on how the transition to net zero is progressing and affecting market participants. Engage with the community Solving customer needs LSEG is leading the mobilization of finance industry to achieve net zero. We deliver on progress through the products and services we provide and through our wider role in financial markets and society.
We enable companies and issuers to access the capital needed to finance the transition to a low-carbon economy and enable investors to build transition-aligned portfolios.
We improve transparency and understanding of environmental, social and financial risks associated with the transition by promoting clear, comparable and comprehensive data, analytical tools and research to inform investment decision-making, deeper engagement between companies and investors, and market wide collaboration. | Climate Change |
A United Nations committee has found the Australian government has failed to adequately protect Torres Strait islanders, and violated their right to enjoy their culture and lives, by failing to act on the climate crisis.The landmark decision found they should be compensated.The decision by the UN human rights committee comes more than three years after eight adults and six children from four low-lying islands off the northern coast of Australia lodged a complaint against the Morrison government, claiming it had failed to take adequate action to cut emissions or pursue proper adaptation measures.In what the committee described as a groundbreaking decision, it found the government had “violated their rights to enjoy their culture and be free from arbitrary interferences with their private life, family and home”.It asked the Australian government to compensate Indigenous people from Boigu, Poruma, Warraber and Masig islands for the harm they have suffered, to engage in meaningful consultations to assess their needs and take measures to secure their communities’ safe existence.The islanders’ complaint claimed that changes in weather patterns linked to an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations had direct harmful consequences on their livelihood, their culture and traditional way of life.They said severe flooding caused by tidal surges in recent years had destroyed graves and left human remains scattered across their islands, and that heavy rainfall and storms had degraded the land and trees and reduced the amount of food available from traditional fishing and farming.The committee said it took into account the islanders’ close, spiritual connection with their lands, and the “dependence of their cultural integrity on the health of their surrounding ecosystems”.Committee member Hélène Tigroudja said the decision was a significant development in its decision making as the committee had “created a pathway for individuals to assert claims where national systems have failed to take appropriate measures to protect those most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change on the enjoyment of their human rights”.“States that fail to protect individuals under their jurisdiction from the adverse effects of climate change may be violating their human rights under international law,” she said.More to come | Climate Change |
Monarch butterflies are endangered. The orange-, black-, and white-patterned creatures were added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's "red list" on Thursday. "The migratory monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus), known for its spectacular annual journey of up to 4,000 kilometres across the Americas, has entered the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Endangered, threatened by habitat destruction and climate change," the group wrote. BIDEN'S BROKEN BORDER IS A GIFT TO VIOLENT CRIMINALS A monarch butterfly feeds on a duranta flower in Houston. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan) "Today’s Red List update highlights the fragility of nature’s wonders, such as the unique spectacle of monarch butterflies migrating across thousands of kilometres,” Bruno Oberle, the group's director-general, explained. “To preserve the rich diversity of nature we need effective, fairly governed protected and conserved areas, alongside decisive action to tackle climate change and restore ecosystems. In turn, conserving biodiversity supports communities by providing essential services such as food, water and sustainable jobs.” According to the group, the butterfly's native species has declined between 22% and 72% in the past decade. The organization blamed illegal logging and deforestation, urban development, and pesticides and herbicides, which harm the butterflies themselves as well as their favored plant, milkweed. It further claimed that the population of the butterflies has declined by an estimated 99.9%, "from as many as 10 million to 1,914 butterflies between the 1980s and 2021." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Anna Walker, a member of the group, added, “It is difficult to watch monarch butterflies and their extraordinary migration teeter on the edge of collapse, but there are signs of hope. So many people and organisations have come together to try and protect this butterfly and its habitats. From planting native milkweed and reducing pesticide use to supporting the protection of overwintering sites and contributing to community science, we all have a role to play in making sure this iconic insect makes a full recovery." | Climate Change |
SACRAMENTO — California moved Thursday to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035, a first-in-the-nation mandate the state’s leaders hope will jolt the automotive industry and truly make electric vehicles mainstream.Other states led by Democrats, including New York and Oregon, are expected to swiftly follow California’s lead in a liberal-state push to fight climate change — moves not unlike past mandates on emissions and car safety.California’s determination to force what would amount to a monumental economic and social change reflects both the state’s long history in shaping the country’s auto market with stringent vehicle standards and the dire threat posed by climate change.“It’s ambitious, it’s innovative, it’s the action we must take if we’re serious about leaving this planet better off for future generations,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement after the California Air Resources Board adopted the requirement. “California will continue to lead the revolution towards our zero-emission transportation future.”The rule, which was formalized nearly two years after Newsom first announced it, will pose a significant challenge. Sales of fully electric vehicles in California, the country’s largest auto market, have made up 16 percent of the total so far in 2022. Industry experts say reaching the new goal will require fixing supply chain issues and building charging stations — and for EV prices to come down.“Whether or not these requirements are realistic or achievable is directly linked to external factors like inflation, charging and fuel infrastructure, supply chains, labor, critical mineral availability and pricing, and the ongoing semiconductor shortage,” said John Bozzella, the president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.Nationwide, fully electric vehicles make up only 6 percent of total new car sales. Still, other states are expected to adopt similar targets.New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts are among the 17 states that have already made it a practice of adopting California’s tailpipe emission standards, adding up to a third of the country’s auto market. Most of those states are now expected to copy the new electric vehicle requirements over the next months, with some using the rules to add teeth to existing emissions targets. Among the first could be Oregon and Vermont, where regulators have already started drafting rules similar to those endorsed by Newsom.Automakers have long conditioned support for stronger electric vehicle mandates on state governments investing more in charging stations and other necessary infrastructure, as California has done.Some European countries have already set sales quotas for gas-powered vehicles and are further along in converting. Growth in the U.S. has been hampered by factors that include a lack of charging stations, the price of EVs and more recently by supply chain problems that have caused shortages of lithium for batteries and microchips.Automakers just five years ago would have had big problems with California's ban, said Margo Oge, a former top career official in the Environmental Protection Agency’s transportation office. But a combination of continued pressure from European and Chinese authorities and industry investments have prompted a change."In the past, I think you would have had a lot of pushback from the car companies. I don't expect that to be the case because many of the car companies — like GM, Ford, Volvo, Daimler, Volkswagen — they're already there," said Oge said, a member of Volkswagen's International Sustainability Council.Toyota sent a letter to California this week acknowledging the state’s ability to set the car rules, something California officials characterized as “old foes coming on board.”Other states that have not traditionally followed California may also adopt more EV goals, Oge said, in part because of money available from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act."[The] IRA is going to provide a lot of incentives to the states, for infrastructure, for manufacturing, for tax incentives,” she said. “So my hope is that other states will follow California."As more states adopt California’s rules, and the EV market expands, the federal government will come under increasing pressure to set similar national targets, said Elaine O’Grady, who works on auto policy for an alliance called the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management.“The more states that adopt California standards, the more likely it is that federal government standards will be closer to California,” O’Grady said.California's rule has some exceptions. Older gas-powered cars could still operate and be sold on the used-vehicle market. In addition, some hybrids that are powered by gas and electricity will also be allowed.The state will require permission under the federal Clean Air Act to set the requirement of 100 percent non-gas vehicle sales, and it’s unclear how long that process will take. The Biden administration for months has been considering a separate waiver for strengthened tailpipe rules for heavy-duty trucks, with manufacturers complaining that the rule did not give them the required four-year lead time.Such a waiver could also be vulnerable under a future Republican president opposed to the ban.The Trump administration revoked an earlier waiver allowing California to set stronger emissions standards through 2025; litigation had only just begun when the newly arrived Biden administration hit reverse and restored the state’s authority. | Climate Change |
The likelihood of an extreme epidemic, or one similar to COVID-19, will increase threefold in the coming decades, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.The researchers used data from epidemics from the past 400 years, specifically death rates, length of previous epidemics and the rate of new infectious diseases. Their calculation is a sophisticated prediction based on known risks and can be a useful guide for policy makers and public health officials.They also found that the probability of a person experiencing a pandemic like COVID-19 in one’s lifetime is around 38%. The researchers said this could double in years to come.The probability of another pandemic is "going to probably increase because of all of the environmental changes that are occurring," Willian Pan, an associate professor of Global Environmental Health at Duke University and one of the study's authors, told ABC News.Scientists are looking closely at the relationship between climate changes and zoonotic diseases, like COVID-19.Climate change and zoonotic diseasesZoonotic diseases are caused by germs that spread between animals and people. Animals can carry viruses and bacteria that humans can encounter directly, through contact, or indirectly, through things like soil or water supply, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."As you make that interface between humans and the natural world smaller, we just come in more contact with those things and climate enhances the ability for viruses to infect us more easily," said Pan. He said our risk for any zoonotic or emerging viral infections is going to rise over time.An example of this is the recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa."There's evidence that there is loss of forests in West Africa for palm oil. There's a whole story around the palm oil industry, destroying forest tropics to plant palm oil trees," said Dr. Aaron Bernstein, director of the Climate MD program at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard University’s Chan School of Public Health."In this case, there are bats that live in those forests but they can't live in palm oil plantations. And so those bats moved to a part of West Africa where they infected people with Ebola," said Bernstein.Zoonotic diseases now account for 60% of all diseases and 75% of emerging diseases, according to the CDC."More animals come into contact with more people but they also, in many cases, have resulted in animals bumping into other animals," said Bernstein. "What we've observed is that animals and even plants are racing to the poles to get out of the heat. And as they do that, they may run into creatures that they've never run into before. And that creates an opportunity for spillover to happen."Health workers at a COVID-19 isolation facility, March 7, 2022, in Hong Kong, China.Louise Delmotte/Getty Images, FILELooking aheadCurrently, scientists are playing catch up with viral outbreaks by racing to create vaccines, sometimes after an outbreak is already out of control."We can't deal with pandemics with Band-Aids. Meaning after waiting until diseases show up, and then trying to figure out how to solve them," said Bernstein.Added Pan: "Globally, if we want to prevent another major pandemic from completely disrupting our society, we need to start investing heavily and sharing information across countries on surveillance of different viral infections. There's some places in the world where we don't even have the basic capacity to evaluate or test strains, viral fevers coming into hospitals. And so a lot of those things go unchecked until it's too late."Preventing these diseases not only requires global collaboration, but attention to the source of the problem."We need to address spillover. And that means we need to protect habitats. We need to tackle climate change. We need to address the risk of large-scale livestock production because a lot of the pathogens move from wild animals into livestock and then into people," said Bernstein.Global spending on COVID vaccines is projected to reach $157 billion, according to Reuters. Annual spending on forest conservation is much less."We're about to throw a whole lot of money at solutions that only address a fraction of the problem. We get very little back relative to what we could get back for $1 spent on post spillover intervention versus root cause prevention," said Bernstein.Emma Egan is an MPH candidate at Brown University and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit. | Climate Change |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! More than 16,000 acres have burned as firefighters in Northern California continue to battle the Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park. The number of personnel assigned to fight the blaze jumped from 403 to 2,093 in the past 24 hours as the fire has become one of the state's largest. "Any spots that are flying, if they do, land into the fuels. Those fuels are so receptive and that's what's causing this fire to grow so, so rapidly and giving us such a hard fight," said Natasha Fouts, a Cal Fire spokesperson, Fox San Francisco reported. Evacuation orders were given and could be pushed up to 5,000 Fouts said. As of Monday afternoon, the fire was 10% contained. GOVERNOR DECLARES EMERGENCY OVER WILDFIRE NEAR YOSEMITE next Flames consume a home on Triangle Road as the Oak Fire burns in Mariposa County, California, near Yosemite National Park. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) prev next More than 16,000 acres have burned as firefighters in Northern California continue to battle the Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) prev next The Oak Fire burns behind a scorched pickup truck in the Jerseydale community of Mariposa County, California, early Sunday, July 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) prev next Firefighters work to keep the Oak Fire from reaching a home in the Jerseydale community of Mariposa County, California, on Saturday, July 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) prev An air tanker flies past flames while battling the Oak Fire in Mariposa County, California, Sunday, July 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)More than 2,500 firefighters with aircraft support battled the fire that erupted Friday southwest of the park near the town of Midpines in Mariposa County. Officials described "explosive fire behavior" Saturday as flames made runs through bone-dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades.Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday declared a state of emergency in Mariposa County due to the fire. Hours earlier, the state secured funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to access resources to suppress the fire.By Monday morning, the fire had consumed more than 26 square miles of forest land, with 10% containment, Cal Fire said. The cause is under investigation.Numerous roads were closed, including a stretch of State Route 140, which is one of the main routes into Yosemite.California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires as climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the past 30 years. Scientists have said weather will continue to be more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe Associated Press contributed to this report. | Climate Change |
The Eiffel Tower is surrounded by a small-particle haze which hangs above the skyline in Paris, France, December 9, 2016 as the City of Light experienced the worst air pollution in a decade. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesECB, BoE among central banks to start testsEarly "benign" estimated impact draws criticismCalls for model changes, better data, more transparencyLONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The first stress tests to assess banks' exposure to the risks of climate change are underestimating the worst-case scenario, the European Central Bank and Bank of England have said, underscoring the challenge of making such exercises more useful.The banking regulators say the tests are needed to assess vulnerabilities in the financial system from climate change-driven catastrophes, be they in the banks' loan portfolios, trading books or customer accounts.Here is why regulators, investors and banking experts say climate stress tests are still a work in progress but improvements are on the way:Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCLIENT DATAFor a bank to understand the climate risks embedded in their financing, they need access to accurate data from clients, including their current emissions and the plan to reduce them over time. While regulators in the European Union and elsewhere are starting to push companies in the real economy to provide this data, it remains early days and banks have had to rely on estimations. The approaches taken by banks to fill in the gaps in data also vary.Tougher, mandatory climate disclosure rules for companies in the European Union, Britain, the United States from 2024 onwards will plug gaps in emissions data from customers of banks, giving a far more accurate picture of exposures. "The disclosure tool will be a bit of a game changer," said Monsur Hussain, senior director at credit ratings agency Fitch, meaning climate tests will "get more stressful" for banks.BALANCE SHEET CHANGESThe lending decisions made by banks over time determine the risk on their balance sheet, yet modelling this is hard. A static balance sheet, which assumes no change over time, is unrealistic, yet a dynamic balance sheet requires many assumptions to be made, which could be equally wrong.Regulators say they expect the modelling to improve over time, while the process will help lenders and policymakers develop the mindset, knowledge and skills needed to come up with better tests for making decisions in future."Asking them to do that preparation and asking whether they are or aren't prepared, is a really important question," said David Carlin, climate risk programme lead for the UNEP Finance Initiative, a joint UN and finance industry initiative.FEEDBACK LOOPSWhile the initial stress tests have taken into account macroeconomic and financial variables, for example the imposition of a higher carbon price through government policymaking, they do not capture all of the potential risks associated with climate change, such as climate-related litigation, and, equally as important, how these differing risks will interact with one another.TIME HORIZONTraditional financial stress tests, introduced after the financial crisis of 2008-2009, typically focus on resilience to shorter-term shocks to a bank's solvency, and are more closely aligned to a lender's planning horizon of 2-5 years. Climate stress tests, on the other hand, tend to focus on risks that may play out over decades into the future with data covering such lengthy periods patchy at best.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Huw Jones and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Greenland's rapidly melting ice sheet will eventually raise global sea level by at least 10.6 inches (27 centimeters) -- more than twice as much as previously forecast - according to a study published Monday.That's because of something that could be called zombie ice. That's doomed ice that, while still attached to thicker areas of ice, is no longer getting replenished by parent glaciers now receiving less snow. Without replenishment, the doomed ice is melting from climate change and will inevitably raise seas, said study co-author William Colgan, a glaciologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland."It's dead ice. It's just going to melt and disappear from the ice sheet," Colgan said in an interview. "This ice has been consigned to the ocean, regardless of what climate (emissions) scenario we take now."Study lead author Jason Box, a glaciologist at the Greenland survey, said it is "more like one foot in the grave."The unavoidable ten inches in the study is more than twice as much sea level rise as scientists had previously expected from the melting of Greenland's ice sheet. The study in the journal Nature Climate Change said it could reach as much as 30 inches (78 centimeters). By contrast, last year's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report projected a range of 2 to 5 inches (6 to 13 centimeters) for likely sea level rise from Greenland ice melt by the year 2100.What scientists did for the study was look at the ice in balance. In perfect equilibrium, snowfall in the mountains in Greenland flows down and recharges and thickens the sides of glaciers, balancing out what's melting on the edges. But in the last few decades there's less replenishment and more melting, creating imbalance. Study authors looked at the ratio of what's being added to what's being lost and calculated that 3.3% of Greenland's total ice volume will melt no matter what happens with the world cutting carbon pollution, Colgan said."I think starving would be a good phrase," for what's happening to the ice, Colgan said.One of the study authors said that more than 120 trillion tons (110 trillion metric tons) of ice is already doomed to melt from the warming ice sheet's inability to replenish its edges. When that ice melts into water, if it were concentrated only over the United States, it would be 37 feet (11 meters) deep.The figures are a global average for sea level rise, but some places further away from Greenland would get more and places closer, like the U.S. East Coast, would get less. Although 10.6 inches may not sound like much, this would be over and above high tides and storms, making them even worse, so this much sea level rise "will have huge societal, economic and environmental impacts," said Ellyn Enderlin, a geosciences professor at Boise State University, who wasn't part of the study."This is a really large loss and will have a detrimental effect on coastlines around the world," said NYU's David Holland who just returned from Greenland, but is not part of the study.This is the first time scientists calculated a minimum ice loss - and accompanying sea level rise - for Greenland, one of Earth's two massive ice sheets that are slowly shrinking because of climate change from burning coal, oil and natural gas. Scientists used an accepted technique for calculating minimum committed ice loss, the one used on mountain glaciers for the entire giant frozen island.Pennsylvania State University glaciologist Richard Alley, who wasn't part of the study but said it made sense, said the committed melting and sea level rise is like an ice cube put in a cup of hot tea in a warm room."You have committed mass loss from the ice," Alley said in an email. "In the same way, most of the world's mountain glaciers and the edges of Greenland would continue losing mass if temperatures were stabilized at modern levels because they have been put into warmer air just as your ice cube was put in warmer tea."Time is the key unknown here and a bit of a problem with the study, said two outside ice scientists, Leigh Stearns of the University of Kansas and Sophie Nowicki of the University of Buffalo. The researchers in the study said they couldn't estimate the timing of the committed melting, yet in the last sentence they mention, "within this century," without supporting it, Stearns said.ADVERTISEMENTColgan responded that the team doesn't know how long it will take for all the doomed ice to melt, but making an educated guess, it would probably be by the end of this century, or at least by 2150.Colgan said this is actually all a best case scenario. The year 2012 (and to a different degree 2019 ) was a huge melt year, when the equilibrium between adding and subtracting ice was most out of balance. If Earth starts to undergo more years like 2012, Greenland melt could trigger 30 inches (78 centimeters) of sea level rise, he said. Those two years seem extreme now, but years that look normal now would have been extreme 50 years ago, he said."That's how climate change works," Colgan said. "Today's outliers become tomorrow's averages."Copyright © 2022 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. | Climate Change |
Water-related crises around the world have shown that current systems of governance and economic organization are unsuited for a world altered by global warming. The days of getting by with stopgap measures are gone; the situation demands mission-oriented collective action at all levels. LONDON – The floods, droughts, heatwaves, and fires that are devastating many parts of the world underscore two fundamental facts. First, damage to freshwater supplies is increasingly straining human societies, especially the poor, with far-reaching implications for economic, social, and political stability. Second, the combined impact of today’s extreme conditions are unprecedented in human history, and are overwhelming policymakers’ ability to respond. In East Africa, a devastating four-year drought has destroyed millions of livelihoods and left more than 20 million people at risk of starvation. In Pakistan, recent flooding has submerged one-third of the country, killing at least 1,500 people so far and wiping out 45% of this year’s crops. In China, an unprecedented heatwave has caused acute water shortages in regions that account for one-third of the country’s rice production. Moreover, droughts and fires in the United States and Europe, and severe floods and droughts across India, have reduced global grain yields and food exports, highlighting the extent to which our food production depends on large, stable volumes of water. Add to this the impact of the war in Ukraine on grain and fertilizer supplies, and there is a substantial risk that today’s global food crisis will persist. For the first time in our history, human activities are jeopardizing water at its very source. Climate change and deforestation are reshaping the monsoon season, causing ice on the Tibetan plateau to melt, and affecting freshwater supplies to more than one billion people. Rising global temperatures are changing evaporation patterns and reducing moisture feedback from forests, disrupting downwind rainfall. And a destabilized global water cycle is itself aggravating climate change. For example, the depletion of water in the soil and forests is reducing their ability to sequester carbon. Water-use restrictions, power cuts, and other stopgap measures can no longer paper over the fact that our water governance and management systems are not suited for a world of radical environmental change. All our current arrangements rest on the assumption, now invalidated, that the water supply is relatively stable (within the bounds of natural variability), predictable, and manageable in localized ways. But the water crisis is global, and it can be solved only with transformational thinking and new governance. We must recognize that all our key environmental challenges are connected to water – whether there is too much or too little, or whether it is too polluted for human use. The task now is to understand the links between water, climate change, and biodiversity loss, and to properly define, value, and govern water as a global common good. Thinking about water in this way will allow us to mobilize collective action and design new rules that put equity and justice at the center of our response. PS Quarterly: Forsaken Futures
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Subscribe now to read all the magazine’s content, including exclusive insights from Laura Chinchilla, Mohamed Nasheed, Nicola Sturgeon, Laurence Tubiana, and more. SUBSCRIBE NOW For too long, most governments have either ignored market failures or responded to them with quick fixes, rather than mobilizing the public and private sectors around common ambitions. The public sector must see itself as a market shaper that works with all stakeholders in the water economy to create pathways for innovation and investment, ensure universal access to clean water and sanitation, and provide enough water for food, energy, and natural systems. A key lesson from past challenges that demanded systemic innovation is that a clearly defined mission is needed to organize our efforts. Mission-oriented policies allow governments to steer innovation and knowhow directly toward meeting critical goals. When guided by an inclusive “common-good” approach, they are uniquely capable of delivering solutions to challenges that require tremendous levels of coordination and financing across many years. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and water crises are precisely such challenges. Mission-based strategies can help governments innovate with purpose, direction, and urgency. But to be effective, policymakers must heed the experience and wisdom of the ordinary citizens, communities, and innovators who know how to prosper in a world of water scarcity, higher temperatures, and altered coastline and river systems. We must now recognize threats to the global freshwater system and translate our awareness into collective action. Because water scarcity will jeopardize all the other Sustainable Development Goals, it should solidify our collective determination to limit temperature increases to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels (as specified in the Paris climate agreement), and to preserve the natural systems that ensure stable rainfall and runoff patterns. In tackling these global challenges, we must hardwire the principles of equity and justice into whatever new arrangements we devise. No community can thrive without a reliable supply of clean water. But safeguarding this global common good requires new policies and systems. Law and economics must both be reoriented to ensure universal access to clean drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene, and to build more resilient and sustainable food systems. Incentives must change so that the private sector can do its part to provide access to technology and innovation to poor and rich countries alike. This will require long-term finance and novel mechanisms to regulate how the public and private sectors work together. The UN 2023 Water Conference – the first in almost 50 years – will be a pivotal moment for the international community to start mapping out a future that works for everyone. In preparing for it, we can take inspiration from Nicholas Stern, who rewrote the economics of climate change, and Partha Dasgupta, who rewrote the economics of biodiversity. As the four co-chairs of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, our goal is to transform the world’s understanding of the economics and governance of water, placing a much stronger emphasis on equity, justice, effectiveness, and democracy. We can still redefine our relationship with water and redesign our economies to value water as a global common good. But the window of opportunity is closing. To have a chance of avoiding climate catastrophe and adapting to unavoidable change, we must ensure a resilient water future for poor and rich societies alike. Quentin Grafton, Joyeeta Gupta, and Aromar Revi, Lead Experts of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, contributed to this commentary. | Climate Change |
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday began circulating a letter to other lawmakers against Sen. Joe Manchin's federal permitting proposal, warning that it would fast-track "some of the largest and dirtiest fossil fuel projects in America each and every year.""This deal is clearly intended to benefit the fossil fuel industry and will not meaningfully expedite the deployment of renewable energy."Grassroots and congressional opposition has been building since Manchin (D-W.Va.) struck a deal with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who plans to add the Energy Independence and Security Act to a continuing resolution that must pass this month to prevent a government shutdown.Sanders (I-Vt.)—already an outspoken critic of the "dirty side deal"—joined seven other senators Thursday in calling on Schumer to hold separate votes for the funding resolution and Manchin's energy bill. His new "dear colleague" letter goes further."At a time when climate change is already causing devastating harm to people in the United States and throughout the world," Sanders wrote, "the last thing Congress should do is pass the disastrous side deal recently introduced by Sen. Manchin to make it easier for the fossil fuel industry to destroy the planet and pollute the environment.""Proponents of this side deal claim that 'streamlining' environmental permitting laws will speed up deployment of renewable energy and transmission infrastructure," he continued. "In reality, this deal is clearly intended to benefit the fossil fuel industry and will not meaningfully expedite the deployment of renewable energy."Manchin's proposal not only would "represent the most significant loss of protections under the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act in the modern history of America," the letter notes, it would also force the president to designate 25 energy projects for priority federal review as well as "require federal agencies to take 'all necessary actions' to permit the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline within 30 days of passage."In addition to citing warnings about the bill's provisions from the green groups Center for Biological Diversity and Oil Change International, Sanders highlighted that over 400 scientists and health professionals called for decoupling the funding resolution and Manchin's proposal in a Thursday letter to Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).As the senator pointed out, those experts wrote to the top Democrats in Congress:We have heard you affirm the necessity of science for policymaking and the importance of listening to scientists for guidance. We are those scientists. And we are the doctors and nurses who take care of those harmed by this unfolding crisis. Speaking together, we urge you in the strongest possible terms to reject this attempt to force through legislation that weakens our bedrock environmental laws and fast-tracks ill-conceived fossil fuel ventures.Sanders also argued that "any attempt to reform the permitting process must be done through regular order, not behind closed doors. It should be the subject of hearings that receive input from climate scientists, environmental experts, and the communities impacted by the legislation. It should not be attached to must-pass legislation with no public scrutiny."Anticipating a vote on a resolution that includes Manchin's bill next week, Sanders wrote that "we can listen to the fossil fuel industry and climate deniers who are spending huge amounts of money on lobbying and campaign contributions to pass this side deal. Or we can listen to the scientists and the environmental community who are telling us loudly and clearly to reject it.""In my view, the time has come for Congress to tell the fossil fuel industry that their short-term profits are not more important than the future of our planet," the two-time Democratic presidential candidate concluded. "I hope you will join me in opposing this deal."While more than six dozen House Democrats have made clear to Pelosi that they also want Manchin's permitting bill separated from the continuing resolution, it is possible that Republicans in both chambers could help Democratic leaders pass the measure next week.Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who introduced the GOP's even more fossil fuel-friendly permit proposal, is now reportedly suporting the right-wing Democrat's legislation. However, some Republicans are skeptical of its chances, especially given that Manchin agreed to help pass the Inflation Reduction Act in exchange for Schumer pushing his permit bill. | Climate Change |
A failure to persuade the public to change behaviour leaves the UK off track to meet its climate targets, according to a crossbench group of Lords.A report by the group found that a third of the emissions the UK must cut by 2035 to limit the impacts of climate change must come from people changing their behaviours, such as by insulating homes, using less energy and being incentivised to travel, shop and eat in a more environmentally friendly way.
But the government's efforts are "seriously inadequate" and will prevent the UK from reaching its target of net zero emissions by 2050, the Lords environment and climate change select committee said.The report comes as Prime Minister Liz Truss is criticised for reportedly blocking plans for a public information campaign asking people to conserve energy over winter, and for holding back on a mass energy efficiency programme in homes.The government's own climate and infrastructure advisers last month urged it to develop "credible policies" for energy efficiency in buildings and to provide a comprehensive energy advice service.
People need to understand which changes "they need to make in their lifestyles and how they travel, how they use energy in their homes and what they buy and what they eat... but there's simply barriers to people effectively stopping them at the moment," Baroness Parminter told Sky News.The committee recommended measures like eco labelling on food; a frequent flier levy; tightening energy efficiency standards on new homes and creating a contact service to guide households through the currently extremely confusing process of making their homes more energy efficient. More on Climate Change New Zealand government plan to tax cow and sheep burps faces backlash COP27: Everything you need to know about the United Nations climate talks in Egypt Half of Centrica's carbon offsets banned by EU emissions trading system in 2013 "The government needs to use all the levers that it has, either through regulation or fiscal incentives, to overcome some of these barriers of cost or accessibility, that are stopping people making the changes that we know from the evidence that people want to make," the Liberal Democrat peer claimed. Spreaker Due to your consent preferences, you’re not able to view this. Open Privacy Options Subscribe to ClimateCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Spreaker The report tells the government to learn from the success of the 5p plastic bag charge, the sugar tax, and efforts to reduce smoking to shift people's behaviour to reduce the impact on the warming climate.Baroness Parminter said the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated "how people responded to being given clear information by trusted sources to help build up a coalition of support for the measures".The recommendations go against the grain for many Conservatives who believe it is not the government's job to tell people what to do.Alexander Stafford MP, member of the Conservative Environment Network of more than 150 MPs, said "telling people how to live their lives and demanding behavioural change won't work".Instead, "we must encourage technological innovation to create cheaper and greener goods and services" - as has partially happened with electric vehicles, he said.He added: "It is wrong to suggest adopting coronavirus-style public communications and using regulation to restrict people's choices without providing better alternatives to tackle climate change. That would divide people and undermine efforts to unite people behind environmental action." Image: The report warns the government to learn from the success of the 5p plastic bag charge at supermarkets in shifting people's behaviour The Lords also warned policies needed to shift people's habits and meet net zero risk being "undermined" by lobbying from the fossil fuel industry and parts of the food sector, akin to past lobbying by big tobacco.Libby Peake, head of resource policy at think tank Green Alliance, said people "want to do the right thing when it comes to the climate, but at the moment, it can be too complicated or too expensive".She told Sky News: "We will only succeed in tackling climate change if we make the best thing to do for the environment the easiest choice."A government spokesperson said they would provide a full response in due course, but said they remained "fully committed" to the net zero target, and had also launched the Net Zero Review."By gathering the views of the public and businesses, this review will ensure the UK's fight against climate change maximises economic growth, energy security and affordability for consumers and businesses," they added.Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm. All on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis | Climate Change |
First Street Foundation peer-reviewed study on United States heat patterns over the next 30 years.Amid this year's heat wave in southwest Missouri, a new study predicts a new Midwestern 'heat belt' to dominate forecasts over the next 30 years.Released Monday, the peer-reviewed 'Extreme Heat Model' created by the First Street Foundation studies the future of climate change in the United States and "identifies the impact of increasing temperatures at a property level, and how the frequency, duration, and intensity of extremely hot days will change over the next 30 years from a changing climate."In the study, "Extreme Danger Days" of heat are defined as when temperature exceeds 125 degrees in a given day. The model predicts only 50 counties next year will experience an Extreme Danger Day of heat. But more than 1,000 counties in the United States will experience days of over 125 degrees by 2053.More: Heat wave sends drier, hotter temperatures across the OzarksThe vast majority of these counties are geographically concentrated in the Midwest, the model finds — dubbing the more than quarter of U.S. land mass the "Extreme Heat Belt." This emerging heat belt stretches from the northern Texas and Louisiana borders to Illinois, Indiana, and even into Wisconsin. Of course, right in the center of the heat belt is all of Missouri.“Increasing temperatures are broadly discussed as averages, but the focus should be on the extension of the extreme tail events expected in a given year,” said Matthew Eby, founder and CEO of First Street Foundation. “We need to be prepared for the inevitable, that a quarter of the country will soon fall inside the Extreme Heat Belt with temperatures exceeding 125 degrees Fahrenheit and the results will be dire.”The top five metropolitan areas by the number of impacted neighborhoods expected toexperience these Extreme Danger Days are St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis, Tulsa, and Chicago.But that does not leave Springfield in the clear. The model breaks down heat impacts by county. A heat wave consists of 3 or more consecutive days where the “feels like” temperature meets or exceeds the local definition of a “hot day." In Greene County that temperature is 105 degrees.More: Springfield-Greene Co. health department reports most heat-related illnesses since 2018According to the model, the likelihood of a 3-day or longer heat wave in Greene County was 18 percent 30 years ago. Today there is a 50% chance of a heat wave in a given year. By 2053, there will be an 88% chance of a heat wave in Greene County each year.That high likelihood is already being felt in the Ozarks as weeks this summer have seen "feels-like" temperatures exceeding a 100 degrees — including breaking the actual temperature record set in Springfield in 2014. Based on these climate models, Springfieldians should expect hotter summers than the one felt this year.These high temperatures will have a drastic effect on the well-being and health of those in southwest Missouri, including heatstroke, cardiovascular collapse, and potentiallydeath.Since warmer air has a higher capacity to hold water, increasing evaporation will result in more humid conditions. Increased average temperatures and humidity have a compounding effect on heat indexes, which make health impacts more likely.When temperatures reach these extremes, people may take respite in air conditioning, provided they have access to homes or buildings with cooling.Additionally, increased air conditioning use across an area may strain energy grids, which is likely to be exacerbated by future use as temperatures rise. According to the model, energy costs in Missouri should increase by 15% in the next several decades because of the heat alone — excluding inflation and other factors."Rolling blackouts and brownouts may therefore become more common as extreme heat increases in frequency, intensity, and duration over the next 30 years," reads the study.Andrew Sullender is the local government reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow him on Twitter @andrewsullender. Email tips and story ideas to [email protected] article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Climate study predicts 125 degree days in Missouri 'heat belt' by 2053 | Climate Change |
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Scientists say that climate change was likely to have made the rains that unleashed catastrophic flooding across Bangladesh worse.While South Asia's monsoon rains follow natural atmospheric patterns, the rains will become more erratic and torrential as global temperatures continue to climb, scientists say.It would take months to determine exactly how much of a role climate change played in last week's heavy rains.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBut scientists note that warmer air can hold more water vapour before rain clouds eventually burst, meaning more rain eventually pours down."The strong monsoon winds in the Bay of Bengal can carry a lot more moisture," said Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. "The large amount of rainfall that we see now might be a climate change impact."The South Asia monsoon season, from June to September, is governed by several, overlapping patterns in the ocean and atmosphere, including the El Nino-La Nina weather cycle and the Indian Ocean Dipole. Currently, those systems are driving strong, southwesterly winds over the Bay of Bengal.People get on a boat as they look for shelter during a widespread flood in the northeastern part of the country, in Sylhet, Bangladesh, June 19, 2022. REUTERS/Kazi Salahuddin RazuBut the monsoon patterns have shifted in recent decades, as the average temperature for Bangladesh has risen at least 0.5 degrees Celsius since 1976."Instead of having moderate rains spread out through the monsoon season, we have long dry periods intermittently with short spells of heavy rains," Koll said. "When it rains, it dumps all that moisture in a few hours to a few days."On Tuesday, Bangladeshi troops were navigating dinghys through brackish floodwaters to rescue those in need or deliver food and water to some of the 9.5 million people marooned. Officials say at least 69 people have died in the disaster.Last week's heavy rains, which caused Bangladesh's rivers to breach their banks, followed less than a month after the neighbouring Indian state of Assam was hit by similar rain-triggered flooding, which killed at least 25 people there.Bangladesh is considered one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, with a 2015 analysis by the World Bank Institute estimating about 3.5 million Bangladeshis are at risk of river flooding every year. The floods also threaten the country’s agriculture, infrastructure and clean water supply.The region's countries "all suffer if there’s no rain. They suffer when there’s too much rain," said Anders Levermann, a climate scientist at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Columbia University. "What they would need is a steady rainfall, as we had in the past and as is threatened now under global warming." (This story corrects to cut extraneous word in the first paragraph)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Gloria Dickie; Editing by Katy Daigle and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
A woman bathes her baby outside her flooded house, following rains and floods in Khairpur Nathan Shah, Pakistan September 3, 2022. REUTERS/Yasir RajputRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSeptember 6 - Wealthy countries took a welcome step up last year, when they pledged to put hundreds of millions more dollars into helping poorer countries adapt to the climate change impacts already battering their economies. Yet two-thirds of that money has yet to land.Meanwhile, private adaptation finance is stagnating while the need is growing ever-more urgent – as we've seen with escalating climate impacts, such as the devastating floods in Pakistan. But the opportunity to avoid the cost of disasters, improve livelihoods and advance sustainable development is passing us by.To unlock this finance, wealthy governments must move first. By financing projects that help people and economies survive climate change impacts now, governments will de-risk investments in developing countries with poor credit, and demonstrate the strong financial impetus for investing in adaptation.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comEarly warning systems, for example, can prepare farmers in Africa for droughts and locust swarms. Mangrove protection can shield coastal industries from sea level rises. Climate-resilient infrastructure can adapt factories, railways and roads to extreme heat. All of this keeps the global economy running – from coffee and cocoa farming in Africa, to the manufacture of solar panel components in China.Unfortunately, governments are not yet responding to the clarion call of mounting scientific evidence and real-world examples of impacts.At last year’s United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, COP26, the U.N.’s Adaptation Fund received a record $356 million in pledged contributions from 16 national and regional governments. It is still a small sum compared with the need, but it signalled a deepening understanding of it.Pakistan's Climate Change Minister Malik Aslam attends the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021. REUTERS/Phil NobleHowever, 10 months later, just over $230 million in pledges is still outstanding, from Canada, the European Union, Spain, the UK and the U.S., according to the Adaptation Fund.This delay is fraying the trust between developing and developed countries, especially as the developing side waits for wealthy countries to fulfil their broader pledge to mobilise $100 billion per year in public and private climate finance by 2020. That finance needs to be split equally between work to adapt to climate change and to reduce emissions, and filling the Adaptation Fund can help to rectify the current imbalance between the two.That’s why governments need to fulfil their pledges before we meet at November’s COP27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh. In parallel, the High-Level Champions and Egyptian COP27 presidency are working to spur a step up across the public and private finance sector, through a series of regional investor roadshows that showcase bankable opportunities in emerging markets and developing economies.The first forum, in Ethiopia in August, made clear that for the developing countries most at risk from climate change, adaptation is the first order of business – and it is growing.In 2016, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) estimated annual adaptation costs in developing countries to be $140-300 billion per year by 2030. In 2021, it estimated their costs and financing needs to be five to 10 times greater than current public flows.Early warning systems can help farmers in Africa prepare for events such as a swarm of locusts. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File PhotoPublic finance will help the private sector overcome investment barriers such as a lack of information and low revenues, according to UNEP.Businesses and investors will understandably target opportunities with revenues and low risks, so often not in the least developed countries with poor credit ratings and unestablished markets. Blended public-private finance can help to set foundations and show the wider benefits of adaptation, giving the private sector greater confidence to go further.Yet the more vulnerable countries suffer from climate change, the worse the ripple effects will be for global economic security.Pakistan’s devastating flooding is only the most recent example. Look at the impacts we have seen just this year. Severe heat killed wheat crops in India, leading the government to ban exports just as it had been increasing shipments in response to higher prices. Extreme heat and drought in China has disrupted the output of components for electric car batteries and solar panels, hitting multinationals such as Toyota and Apple. Heavy rainfall in South Africa brought the worst locust swarms the country has seen in decades, damaging large swathes of grazing land.Investments in adaptation can be good for business. An investment of $1.8 trillion in early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved agriculture, mangrove protection, and resilient water resources could generate $7.1 trillion in benefits, the Global Commission on Adaptation estimated in 2019.Innovative efforts are under way. At the Ethiopia finance forum, we heard, for example, about an accelerator fund for entrepreneurs and developers working to restore and conserve ocean ecosystems. This is supporting the Great Blue Wall initiative, through which western Indian Ocean countries are creating a network of marine and coastal conserved areas.We need a lot more of this – and we need governments to lead the way. By delaying the fulfilment of their promises to the Adaptation Fund, the more businesses and investors remain unsure about if, where or how to invest in adaptation, and the more the vulnerable countries lose trust. The faster they act, the bigger the benefits for us all – developed or developing.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOpinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Sustainable Business Review, a part of Reuters Professional, is owned by Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin is the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP27, with a role to strengthen collaboration and drive action from businesses, investors, organisations, cities, and regions on climate change, and coordinate this work with governments and parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He is an economist with more than 30 years of experience on international finance and development and is an executive director of the International Monetary Fund. | Climate Change |
The UK Disasters Emergency Committee has launched an appeal to "save and protect lives" as Pakistan deals with devastating floods.More than 1,100 people have died and 33 million people are affected after monsoon rains and melting glaciers destroyed houses, infrastructure and crops.
The UN has appealed for $160m (£138m) to help alleviate an "unprecedented climate catastrophe" - and now 15 UK charities have come together to try to raise money."Our priority right now is to help save and protect lives as waters continue to rise," said DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed."The scale of these floods has caused a shocking level of destruction - crops have been swept away and livestock killed across huge swathes of the country, which means hunger will follow."
He acknowledged that many Britons are struggling with the cost of living but said any donation, no matter how small, could help save lives."We're urging everyone to give whatever they can at what we appreciate is a difficult time for us all," said Saleh Saeed. More on Pakistan 'Nobody cares about us': Death and despair as Pakistanis flee homes amid devastating floods Pakistan floods: Country's climate minister says 'gargantuan' relief effort is overstretching resources Pakistan monsoon floods: Brave and resilient displaced people feel angry and abandoned Image: This UN map shows the scale of damage to houses across Pakistan as of 26 August Satellite pictures reveal how large areas have been submerged over the last month, and the DEC said a third of the country is estimated to be underwater.Sindh province, one of the worst hit, has had 466% more rain than the 30-year average in the latest quarter. Helicopters have been rescuing people from rooftops and patches of dry land, and dropping off food in hard-to-reach areas.The situation could get worse, with Pakistan's disaster management authority saying major rivers the Indus and Kabul are at "high to very high flood" levels and are set to continue rising.Read more: Death and despair as Pakistanis flee homes amid devastating floodsSatellite images and maps show scale of disasterThousands of tents as well as food and medicine have already been arriving in the country - from China, Turkey and the UAE - but more is needed such is the scale of the disaster. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Sky's Saima Mohsin speaks to victims of the flooding Image: People cross a river on a cradle in the town of Bahrain Of the tens of millions affected, some 6.4 million are in dire need of aid, according to the World Health Organisation.More than two million acres of farming land have been flooded, said Pakistan's disaster agency chief General Akhtar Nawaz."The rice crop has been washed away. Fruit and vegetables are gone," added Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after visiting northern Pakistan.International agencies have called for a relaxation of food import restrictions from Pakistan's neighbour and arch-rival India.Pakistan ministers have blamed Western nations for creating the disaster through climate change and now have a "responsibility" to help. | Climate Change |
CNN — A burp or fart at the dinner table might land you in trouble – but if you’re a cow or sheep in New Zealand, it might land your owner a hefty tax bill. Prime Minister Jacinda Arden confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday that her government will push ahead with a proposal to make farmers pay for their livestock’s emissions in a bid to combat climate change. “This is an important step forward in New Zealand’s transition to a low emissions future and delivers on our promise to price agriculture emissions from 2025,” Ardern said. New Zealand is a major livestock and meat exporter, and has around 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep. Agricultural accounts for half of the country’s total emissions, including 91% of its biogenic emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the global warming power of carbon dioxide in the short term. The industry had previously been omitted from the country’s Emission Trading Scheme, a government regulatory body which sets limits on emissions by sector. “No other country in the world has yet developed a system for pricing and reducing agricultural emissions, so our farmers are set to benefit from being first movers,” Ardern said. But farm groups are unconvinced and have raised concerns about the high costs this will impose on the industry. Andrew Morrison, chairman of farm lobby group Beef + Lamb New Zealand, said in an email to farmers on Tuesday, “we will not accept a system that disproportionately puts our farmers and communities at risk.” Andrew Hoggard, president of the rural advocacy agency Federated Farmers, said in a statement that the government’s plan will “rip the guts out of small town New Zealand.” “We didn’t sign up for this. It’s gut-wrenching to think we now have this proposal from government which rips the heart out of the work we did. Out of the families who farm this land,” he said. “Our plan was to keep farmers farming. Now they’ll be selling up so fast you won’t even hear the dogs barking on the back of the ute as they drive off.” However, the proposal hopes to incentivize farmers to reduce emissions without imposing damaging costs. In a statement, the government said the revenue raised will be “recycled back into the agriculture sector through new technology, research and incentive payments to farmers.” Already some of this technology is being used. Researchers at dairy company Fonterra are trialing the effects of “Kowbucha,” a probiotic thought to reduce methane-emitting burps. “By rewarding farmers who take action to cut their emissions we can support more farmers to improve their productivity and profitability while achieving climate goals,” Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said Tuesday. The proposal will now go to a consultation, due to end in November this year. Additional reporting from Reuters. | Climate Change |
September 21, 2022 12:04 AM Denmark announced it has given 100 million Danish krone, or roughly $13.4 million, to support the loss and damage fund for climate change. Representatives for the country announced the funding as the United Nations General Assembly began in New York City Tuesday. BIDEN TO ANNOUNCE 'ROBUST' US FOOD SECURITY COMMITMENTS AT UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY Flemming Moller Mortensen, the development minister for Denmark, said in a statement that it is unfair the world's poorest nations have to pay for climate change-related incidents despite contributing the least to pollution. The funds are aimed at helping relieve damage caused by climate change and working to mitigate climate-related disasters from happening, according to the Danish press release. Denmark becomes the first U.N. member state to contribute to loss and damage funding. Scotland, which is not a U.N. member independently, announced it would provide to the fund last November. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Climate change is expected to be a key topic at this week's U.N. General Assembly. | Climate Change |
Kathy Hall empties out her house in Hindman, Kentucky after floodwaters swept through.Photo: Brynn Anderson (AP)It’s been a month and a half since devastating floods tore through Eastern Kentucky. A historic, so-called thousand-year rainfall overflowed rivers and streams, and it carried strip mining waste down into valley communities across the region. OffEnglishAt least 40 people were killed in the disaster, according to state Governor Andy Beshear. That death toll was revised as recently as this week—and the number could still continue to rise as others reportedly remain missing.On top of the lives lost, the flooding also destroyed basic infrastructure and thousands of homes. President Joe Biden declared the Kentucky floods a major disaster and allocated Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding to the recovery effort. So far though, that aid has been difficult for people to access. Applications are getting stuck in the gears of bureaucracy, rejections abound, and the granted aid people have received thus far is often a pittance compared with the money actually needed to restore their permanent housing. FEMA reported that it has approved 7,348 individual assistance applications from Easter Kentucky, and distributed more than $54.6 million in housing assistance, as of Wednesday. However, that represents only about half of the more than 13,600 households that have applied for assistance from the agency, according to Justin Hicks, a Kentucky-based journalist. The rate of approved applications has inched upwards since the beginning of September, Hicks pointed out in a tweet. However, the median award for each fulfilled application thus far is only a few thousand dollars, much too little to allow most to rebuild, recover, or relocate. Just 336 households have been granted the maximum amount allowed (about $38,000) for housing assistance, as of Sunday, according to Hicks. In response to complaints about supposed unjustified denials, FEMA did announce a few changes to speed up the application process last month. Some of these shifts included on-site benefits approval, and text communications, according to reporting from Ohio Valley Resource, a local non-profit news outlet. Yet it’s unclear how much of an improvement, if any, has resulted.The agency also stressed that people approved for very small grants, some less than $200, should keep appealing and applying for more funds. “If they get a check for only $179 that is just an initial [aid payment],” said Brett Howard, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer, in a press call earlier this month, according to a report from Government Technology. Those small amounts can theoretically be used to help jump-start the process of hiring contractors or getting inspections and estimates done on damaged homes, said FEMA in a press release. “Once a survivor has their estimate in hand, they can file an appeal for possible additional funding,” the statement said.Yet that multi-step, multi-application process is part of the problem for some, who are too preoccupied with just trying to get by in the disaster’s wake, to keep up with all the paperwork. “FEMA’s little bit slow on helping us,” Laverne Fields, a flood survivor currently living in camper, said to Ohio Valley Resource, in another report. From the outlet: She’s too busy to appeal with FEMA right now. Fields lives with nine people: her brother, her cousins, her niece, some kids from other families she’s taking care of. There’s no electricity or running water in the camper.Gov. Beshear also voiced criticism of FEMA’s response back in August. “Too many people are being denied, not enough people are being approved, and this is the time that FEMA has to get it right. To change what has been a history of denying too many people, and not providing enough dollars, and to get it right here,” he said. Separately, state legislators introduced and passed a $213 million relief bill. But did not include a proposed $50 million amendment for temporary housing and the bill also lacked funds for long-term housing solutions.Church groups and some sectarian disaster relief non-profits have converged on the region, to try to offer help fill in the gaps. More than 6,000 households have applied to receive assistance from the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, the non-profit’s chief strategist, Laura Smith, told BBC World in a podcast episode. However, many organizations on the ground are still struggling to fulfill the need. And local residents are left wondering what they’re going to do through the coming winter and beyond.Decades of ecologically destructive mining coupled with more severe storms brought on by climate change have left Eastern Kentucky one of the many regions of the world vulnerable to increasingly extreme floods. What may have once been a thousand-year rainfall probably isn’t anymore. What happened this past July is likely to happen again. “We all want to rebuild. We all love here,” said Willa Johnson, another flood survivor, to BBC World. “But there is a part of me that just questions how we rebuild if we can’t go higher. Because once a flood line happens, it changes your landscape, it changes what’s possible the next time and no part of me wants to be near the creek or the river again.” | Climate Change |
Experts say mass die-offs of little blue penguins, the world’s smallest penguin species, are becoming more frequent amid changing climate patterns.In recent months, confused locals have found hundreds of dead penguins on New Zealand’s beaches.Sanka Vidanagama / NurPhoto via Getty Images fileJune 17, 2022, 12:06 PM UTCLittle blue penguins — a flightless bird native to New Zealand and the world’s smallest penguin species — have been washing up dead on the country’s beaches, in what experts say are more frequent mass die-offs amid changing climate patterns. Hundreds of lifeless birds have been found in northern New Zealand since early May, though the exact number is difficult to determine and reports are still coming in, said Graeme Taylor, principal science adviser at the New Zealand Department of Conservation.Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics The penguins, also known as korora, were tested for diseases and biotoxins, but appeared to have died from starvation, Taylor said. “All the birds were at least half the normal weight, they had no fat on them at all and their muscle tissue had wasted away.” It is not unusual for seabirds to die off in large numbers because of severe weather, conservationists say. But mass deaths among little blue penguins, which used to take place about once a decade, have now happened three times in six years, Taylor said. Ninety Mile Beach on New Zealand’s North Island, where the most recent sighting of dead penguins occurred.DPK / Alamy fileExperts in New Zealand, where the little blue penguin is considered “at risk,” expected a mortality event this summer due to La Niña, a climate pattern that affects weather around the world and typically occurs every three to five years. The ongoing event is favored to continue through the end of the year, according to forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This puts it on track to be the third consecutive fall and winter season with La Niña conditions, a rare occurrence. La Niña has combined with a marine heat wave to create a “double whammy” for the penguins, raising sea temperatures which in turn makes it more difficult for them to find the small fish they feed on, Taylor said. The fish may have moved south or descended to colder waters below the penguins’ diving range. “Particularly young birds are really struggling to find good places to find food, and even experienced adults look like they’ve been caught up in this,” he said.With mass die-offs happening more frequently, Taylor added, the penguins have less opportunity to replenish their population through breeding in better years.Little blue penguins, a flightless bird native to New Zealand, are the world’s smallest penguin species.Marty Melville / AFP via Getty Images fileThough it’s not possible to measure the exact impact of climate change on the species, there are observable patterns, said John Cockrem, a penguin biologist in the School of Veterinary Science at Massey University in New Zealand. Little blue penguins at the southern end of New Zealand, which has not been subject to the same sea temperature changes, appear to be doing better than populations in the north.“It’s very likely that it’s more than a coincidence that this is happening when there are warmer sea temperatures,” Cockrem said.More die-offs can be expected with more frequent occurrences of warmer sea temperatures around the New Zealand coast, he said, adding that the number of little blue penguins in the north “may well decline as a consequence of climate change.” The bird could be considered the “canary in the coal mine” of the sea, Cockrem warned. “From little phytoplankton and zooplankton through to fish, through to penguins, the whole food chain will suffer.” | Climate Change |
On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a long-awaited order in West Virginia v Environmental Protection Agency, ruling that the federal agency can’t force a restructuring of the national energy market to cleaner power without Congressional authorization.It was among the final orders in a monumental series of Supreme Court decisions this month, in which a conservative majority also dismantled abortion rights and loosened concealed carry restrictions.In West Virginia v EPA, the court ruled 6-3 in favor of the plaintiffs. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion; Justice Elena Kagan authored the dissent.Here are five things to know about today’s decision and what it means for the climate.What the ruling didThe case takes aim at the EPA’s ability to use the Clean Air Act to regulate the emissions from power plants by forcing what’s called a “generation shift,” from dirty fossil fuels to renewables, like solar or wind. The conservative state attorneys general who brought the case argue that an executive branch agency, like the EPA, should not be able to issue regulations that have a sweeping effect on the American economy. A regulation of that magnitude, they argued, must come from Congress.The court agreed, ruling that the EPA’s attempt to use a provision of the Clean Air Act to restructure the American energy market “allowed it to adopt a regulatory program that Congress had conspicuously and repeatedly declined to enact itself.” The decision means that the EPA has lost what many consider to be its best tool for slashing greenhouse gases from electricity generation.Why these emissions matterWhen it comes to climate-warming emissions, the United States is among the world’s worst offenders. And the power plants covered by today’s order are one of the biggest sources. Congress and many state legislatures have refused to take significant action to rein in emissions from dirty power plants. The high court’s ruling means that federal regulators can’t step in and impose those limits on their own.The United States is responsible for 14 percent of the world’s emissions from fossil fuels, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Of those, nearly a third are generated by power plants, according to the Energy Information Administration.As recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have made abundantly clear, time is running out to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. “Global emissions must decrease by 45 per cent by 2030, starting now. Or rather yesterday,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said in April.With today’s order, the US loses one key tool in eliminating a large portion of its emissions.What it means for MassachusettsIn Massachusetts and New England—in the short term, at least—this ruling won’t change much. The Northeast has created its own policies to regulate power plant emissions, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Thanks to these policies, including the aggressive emission-cutting goals in each of the states, climate progress is likely to continue.But no one state or region can solve climate change alone. Each must do its part.In the longer term, pollution from coal plants elsewhere in the country will continue to damage air quality in New England carried here by the wind.And one more opportunity to limit climate change has disappeared. Globally, rising temperatures are already accelerating sea level rise, harming native plants and animals, diminishing snow cover, and making heat waves and dangerous storms more intense and frequent. And New England is warming significantly faster than the rest of the globe, according to recent studies.How did we get hereIn 2015, then-President Obama introduced the Clean Power Plan, which directed the EPA to gradually cap power plant emissions, instructing each state to meet those levels mostly by switching to renewable energy sources like wind and solar. But it was blocked by the Supreme Court and never went into effect.The Trump administration repealed that rule and replaced it with a much weaker one. In January 2021, a federal appeals court dismissed the policy and rejected Trump’s repeal of Obama’s original plan.Shortly after that, a group of conservative attorneys general, including from West Virginia, challenged that ruling, saying the decision gave the EPA too much power to control what electricity sources states use.US on the international stageAdvocates fear that implications of this order will weaken the United States’ ability to influence international climate negotiations.The US was once considered a leader on climate. That changed after Donald Trump withdrew the nation from the Paris Agreement and alienated many American allies. Though the Biden Administration has sought to restore the role of the US in international talks, today’s order shows that even though Trump is no longer in office, his legacy has profoundly influenced global climate policy.Sabrina Shankman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @shankman. | Climate Change |
There are things I will always remember from my time in New Mexico. The way the bark of towering ponderosa pines smells of vanilla when you lean in close. Sweeping vistas, from forested mountaintops to the Rio Grande Valley, that embellish even the most mundane shopping trip. The trepidation that comes with the tendrils of smoke rising over nearby canyons and ridges during the dry, wildfire-prone summer months. There were no major wildfires near Los Alamos National Laboratory during the year and a half that I worked in public communications there and lived just across Los Alamos Canyon from the lab. I’m in Maryland now, and social media this year has brought me images and video clips of the wildfires that have been devastating parts of New Mexico, including the Cerro Pelado fire in the Jemez Mountains just west of the lab. Sign Up For the Latest from Science News Headlines and summaries of the latest Science News articles, delivered to your inbox Wherever they pop up, wildfires can ravage the land, destroy property and displace residents by the tens of thousands. The Cerro Pelado fire is small compared with others raging east of Santa Fe — it grew only to the size of Washington, D.C. The fire, which started mysteriously on April 22, is now mostly contained. But at one point it came within 5.6 kilometers of the lab, seriously threatening the place that’s responsible for creating and maintaining key portions of fusion bombs in our nation’s nuclear arsenal. That close call may be just a hint of growing fire risks to come for the weapons lab as the Southwest suffers in the grip of an epic drought made worse by human-caused climate change (SN: 4/16/20). May and June typically mark the start of the state’s wildfire season. This year, fires erupted in April and were amplified by a string of warm, dry and windy days. The Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires east of Santa Fe have merged to become the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history. Los Alamos National Lab is in northern New Mexico, about 56 kilometers northwest of Santa Fe. The lab’s primary efforts revolve around nuclear weapons, accounting for 71 percent of its $3.9 billion budget, according the lab’s fiscal year 2021 numbers. The budget covers a ramp-up in production of hollow plutonium spheres, known as “pits” because they are the cores of nuclear bombs, to 30 per year beginning in 2026. That’s triple the lab’s current capability of 10 pits per year. The site is also home to radioactive waste and debris that has been a consequence of weapons production since the first atomic bomb was built in Los Alamos in the early 1940s (SN: 8/6/20). What is the danger due to fire approaching the lab’s nuclear material and waste? According to literature that Peter Hyde, a spokesperson for the lab, sent to me to ease my concern, not much. Over the last 3½ years, the lab has removed 3,500 tons of trees and other potential wildfire fuel from the sprawling, 93-square-kilometer complex. Lab facilities, a lab pamphlet says, “are designed and operated to protect the materials that are inside, and radiological and other potentially hazardous materials are stored in containers that are engineered and tested to withstand extreme environments, including heat from fire.” What’s more, most of roughly 20,000 drums full of nuclear waste that were stored under tents on the lab’s grounds have been removed. They were a cause for anxiety during the last major fire to threaten the lab in 2011. According to the most recent numbers on the project’s website, all but 3,812 of those drums have been shipped off to be stored 655 meters underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. But there’s still 3,500 cubic meters of nuclear waste in the storage area, according to a March 2022 DOE strategic planning document for Los Alamos. That’s enough to fill 17,000 55-gallon drums. So potentially disastrous quantities of relatively exposed nuclear waste remain at the lab — a single drum from the lab site that exploded after transport to Carlsbad in 2014 resulted in a two-year shutdown of the storage facility. With a total budgeted cleanup cost of $2 billion, the incident is one of the most expensive nuclear accidents in the nation’s history. Since the 2011 fire, a wider buffer space around the tents has been cleared of vegetation. In conjunction with fire suppression systems, it’s unlikely that wildfire will be a danger to the waste-filled drums, according to a 2016 risk analysis of extreme wildfire scenarios conducted by the lab. But a February 2021 audit by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General is less rosy. It found that, despite the removal of most of the waste drums and the multiyear wildfire mitigation efforts that the lab describes, the lab’s wildfire protection is still lacking. According to the 20-page federal audit, the lab at that time had not developed a “comprehensive, risk-based approach to wildland fire management” in accordance with federal policies related to wildland fire management. The report also noted compounding issues, including the absence of federal oversight of the lab’s wildfire management activities. A canyon on lab grounds that runs alongside the adjacent city of Los Alamos (two spots shown) was called out in an audit by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General because it was packed with about 400 to 500 trees per acre. The ideal number from a wildfire management viewpoint is 40 to 50 trees per acre.The Department of Energy’s Wildland Fire Prevention Efforts at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Among the ongoing risks, not all fire roads were maintained well enough to provide a safe route for firefighters and others, “which could create dangerous conditions for emergency responders and delay response times,” the auditors wrote. And a canyon that runs between the lab and the adjacent town of Los Alamos was identified in the report as being packed with 10 times the number of trees that would be ideal, from a wildfire safety perspective. To make matters worse, there’s a hazardous waste site at the bottom of the canyon that could, the auditors wrote, “produce a health risk to the environment and to human health during a fire.” “The report was pretty stark,” says Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “And certainly, after all the warnings, if they’re still not doing all they need to do to fully mitigate the risk, then that’s just foolishness.” A 2007 federal audit of Los Alamos, as well as nuclear weapons facilities in Washington state and Idaho, showed similar problems. In short, it seems little has changed at Los Alamos in the 14-year span between 2007 and 2021. Lab spokespeople did not respond to my questions about the lab’s efforts to address the specific problems identified in the 2021 report, despite repeated requests. The Los Alamos area has experienced three major wildfires since the lab was founded — the Cerro Grande fire in 2000, Las Conchas in 2011 and Cerro Pelado this year. But we probably can’t count on 11-year gaps between future wildfires near Los Alamos, according to Alice Hill, the senior fellow for energy and the environment with the Council on Foreign Relations, who’s based in Washington, D.C. The changing climate is expected to dramatically affect wildfire risks in years to come, turning Los Alamos and surrounding areas into a tinderbox. A study in 2018 in Climatic Change found that the region extending from the higher elevations in New Mexico, where Los Alamos is located, into Colorado and Arizona will experience the greatest increase in wildfire probabilities in the Southwest. A new risk projection tool that was recommended by Hill, called Risk Factor, also shows increasing fire risk in the Los Alamos area over the next 30 years. “We are at the point where we are imagining, as we have to, things that we’ve never experienced,” Hill says. “That is fundamentally different than how we have approached these problems throughout human history, which is to look to the past to figure out how to be safer in the future…. The nature of wildfire has changed as more heat is added [to the planet], as temperatures rise.” Increased plutonium pit production will add to the waste that needs to be shipped to Carlsbad. “Certainly, the radiological assessments in sort of the worst case of wildfire could lead to a pretty significant release of radioactivity, not only affecting the workers onsite but also the offsite public. It’s troubling,” says Lyman, who suggests that nuclear labs like Los Alamos should not be located in such fire-prone areas. The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (shown in March of 2019), a key facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was evacuated in March 2019 when power lines sparked a nearby wildfire. It could be damaged or even destroyed if a high-intensity wildfire burned through a nearby heavily forested canyon, according to an audit by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General.The Department of Energy’s Wildland Fire Prevention Efforts at the Los Alamos National Laboratory For now, some risks from the Cerra Pelado wildfire will persist, according to Jeff Surber, operations section chief for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forestry Service’s efforts to fight the fire. Large wildfires like Cerra Pelado “hold heat for so long and they continue to smolder in the interior where it burns intermittently,” he said in a May 9 briefing to Los Alamos County residents, and to concerned people like me watching online. It will be vital to monitor the footprint of the fire until rain or snow finally snuffs it out late in the year. Even then, some danger will linger in the form of “zombie fires” that can flame up long after wildfires appear to have been extinguished (SN: 5/19/21). “We’ve had fires come back in the springtime because there was a root underground that somehow stayed lit all winter long,” said Surber. So the Cerro Pelado fire, and its occasional smoky tendrils, will probably be a part of life in northern New Mexico for months still. And the future seems just as fiery, if not worse. That’s something all residents, including the lab, need to be preparing for. Meantime, if you make it out to the mountains of New Mexico soon enough, be sure to sniff a vanilla-flavored ponderosa while you still can. I know I will. | Climate Change |
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesBlaze near Athens as hundreds evacuatedHundreds flee in Tuscany as fire-hit gas tanks explodeStep up climate fight, UK warned, after hottest dayNew power use records expected in parts of Central U.S.China braces for new heatwave; could last well into AugustATHENS/LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Emergency services battled wildfires across swathes of southern Europe amid mass evacuations on Wednesday, as warnings sounded in London after Britain's hottest day that the fight against climate change needed to be stepped up.A blaze fuelled by gale-force winds raged in mountains north of Athens, forcing hundreds including hospital patients to evacuate, and similar numbers fled in central Italy as gas tanks caught in a forest fire near the Tuscan town of Lucca exploded. read more A brutal heatwave settled over southern Europe last week, part of a currently developing global pattern of rising temperatures - widely attributed by scientists and climatologists to human activity - that is forecast to dump searing heat on to much of China into late August. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comIt is also expected to trigger record power consumption in Central U.S. states - thereby adding to the greenhouse gas emissions that nations across the world have pledged to cut - as homes and businesses crank up air conditioners to combat soaring temperatures predicted to last into next week. read more While the record heat experienced last week around parts of the Mediterranean has eased, mercury readings have begun heading up again in Portugal and Spain and rising in Italy.Portugal's northern region's Civil Protection commander Armando Silva said rising temperatures and strong winds would make it harder to fight the country's largest wildfire, which has burned 10,000-12,000 hectares (38-46 square miles) since Sunday in and around the municipality of Murça.In Spain, where emergency crews were tackling fires in five regions, national weather service AEMET also forecast higher temperatures.RECORD TEMPERATUREWildfires burned in several areas of Italy and 14 cities, including Rome, Milan and Florence, were due to be put on the country's highest heatwave alert on Thursday, up from nine on Wednesday.Forecasters there said that temperatures were expected to hit 40C (104F) across a swathe of the north and centre this week.That mark was topped in Britain for the first time on Tuesday, shattering the country's previous temperature record by 1.6 degrees Celsius.The Chief of Science and Technology of Britain's Met Office, Stephen Belcher, said that unless greenhouse gas emissions were reduced, the country might experience similar heatwaves every three years.London mayor Sadiq Khan, a member of the opposition Labour Party, issued a similar warning."The sad reality is this is what the future for London and the UK is likely to look like if we don't take strong action now on the climate crisis," he said.Treasury Minister Simon Clarke said Tuesday's "remarkable, unprecedented" record served as "a reminder ... of the importance of tackling climate change."A firefighter tries to extinguish a wildfire burning in Pallini, near Athens, Greece July 20, 2022. REUTERS/Stelios MisinasBritish engineers raced on Wednesday to fix train tracks that had buckled in the heat after firefighters, who in London endured their busiest day since World War Two on Tuesday, worked through the night to damp down wildfires. read more HIGH WINDSTo the south on the European mainland, major wildfires continued to rage.In Greece, thick clouds of smoke darkened the sky over Mount Penteli 27 km (16 miles) north of Athens, where close to 500 firefighters, 120 fire engines and 15 water-carrying planes tried to contain a blaze that broke out on Tuesday and continued to burn on several fronts.Authorities said they evacuated nine settlements. One hospital and the National Observatory of Athens were also evacuated and police helped at least 600 residents out of fire-stricken areas."Due to the intensity and speed of the winds, the fire constantly changed direction throughout the night," said Fire Department spokesperson Yiannis Artopios in a televised statement.Strong winds were forecast to persist until Wednesday afternoon.Last year, wildfires ravaged about 300,000 acres (nearly 470 sq miles) of forest and bushland in different parts of Greece as the country experienced its worst heatwave in 30 years.In Italy, fire crews in the central region of Tuscany battled a wildfire for a third day near the town of Lucca that had destroyed some 560 hectares (2.15 sq miles) of forest, authorities said.It forced around 500 people to evacuate as the flames raged through the night, reaching some villages and causing some liquefied gas tanks to explode, the region's governor, Eugenio Giani, said on Twitter. "Some fronts have strengthened because of the wind," he added.In the northeastern Friuli Venezia Giulia region, residents were urged to stay indoors because of heavy smoke from a wildfire that started on Tuesday in the Carso area bordering Croatia and Slovenia.It forced state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri (FCT.MI) to close down its plant in the port city of Monfalcone, which employs 3,000 people.In France, where firefighters in the southwestern Gironde region have been battling since July 12 to contain huge forest fires, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said more money needed to be invested to tackle such threats. read more "We are having to confront a quite exceptional situation," he said, referring to damage caused in Brittany and southern France.President Emmanuel Macron was due to visit the Gironde region on Wednesday as local authorities said improved weather conditions as France's heatwave moved east were helping the battle to contain the flames.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Renee Maltezou, Angeliki Koutantou, Karolina Tagaris and Vassilis Triandafyllou in Athens; Dominique Vidalon and Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris; Kate Holton and William James in London, Emma Pinedo in Madrid and Catarina Demoney in Lisbon; Writing by John Stonestreet; Editing by Nick Macfie and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
When it comes to climate change, the news can be a bit overwhelming. From severe weather events to celebrities’ private jets that spew carbon dioxide into the environment, it can be hard to know how you, personally, can have any control or make a difference.However, you may be surprised to know that the choices you make every day in the supermarket do matter. Farming, shipping, and processing all the food we eat is responsible for one-third of all global emissions.“What we eat is the single most impactful thing we do every day to be environmentally sustainable or not,” said dietitian and professor Dana Hunnes, the author of Recipe for Survival: What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and More Environmentally Friendly Life.But what, exactly, to choose? To answer that question, researchers created an algorithm using publicly available data to estimate the environmental footprint of 57,000 food products. They ranked the products, which are all sold in Ireland and the UK, based on four factors: greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water stress, and likelihood of eutrophication, which is agricultural runoff that can lead to toxic algae growth.They tested their new environmental impact score, which ranged from 0 to 100 (with a higher score meaning it was worse for the environment), on 1,547 foods and published the results this month in the journal PNAS.They found some overall trends. Sugary beverages, fruit, and bread tend to have a lower impact on the environment, while meat, fish, and cheese have a greater impact. (Somewhere in the middle are desserts and pastries.) And while the extent differs by individual products, in general, more nutritious foods also tend to be more environmentally sustainable.They paired their scoring system with a measure called NutriScore and found that some foods were a “win-win” for both nutrition and the environment, including fruits, vegetables, salads, breakfast cereals, some breads, and meat alternatives such as tofu and vegan sausages.Speaking of sausages, here’s how the researchers found they rate from the highest environmental impact to lowest, depending on the ingredients:Beef or lamb (a score around 30)Pork (a score around 10)Chicken or turkey (a score around 3)Vegan or vegetarian (a score around 1)One of the highest scores in terms of environmental impact was beef jerky, coming in at close to 100 because it contains 100 grams of beef per 100 grams of the final product.“If people do care about sustainability, then that slow transition toward low-impact foods is really important progress,” said Michael Clark, a researcher at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study. “[This research] is just a starting place for a much longer journey to figure out how people can use this information to make more informed decisions.”While the researchers don’t have a searchable database of their findings, you can check the environmental impacts of some foods by using Hestia, an open data platform from the University of Oxford that standardizes agricultural stats to evaluate environmental behavior.In the US, brands do not have to be as transparent about their ingredients as they do in other countries, making it harder to determine a product’s implications.The exact recipes of specific products are usually known only by the manufacturers, and products can have hundreds of ingredients. However, 80% of people in the US do care and are willing to make changes to their lives to reduce their environmental damage, according to a 2021 report from Pew Research Center. Not surprisingly, nearly three-quarters of Americans don’t know how to identify sustainable products, according to the Business of Sustainability Index.However, there are some easy ways you can reduce your individual footprint at the grocery store.These recommendations are based on the study’s general findings (since not everyone has access to the brands used in the UK study) as well as tips from experts in sustainable diets and food systems.Eat more pulses.Pulses are environmentally friendly, healthy, and cheap, and you can buy them at most local grocery stores. Beans, chickpeas, lentils, and peas make up the pulse family and are vital to many diets.“Pulses are the most sustainable protein source on the planet,” said Sharon Palmer, a registered dietitian nutritionist, author, and expert in sustainable food systems. “That’s where we should be getting most of our protein.”One report from the Natural Resources Defense Council showed that growing pulses was 34 times less damaging to the climate than producing the same amount of beef, by weight. Pulses need less water than many foods, don’t require fertilizer, and actually improve the soil they’re grown in, rather than extracting nutrients from it. Plus, they contain high amounts of fiber and are considered one of the healthiest foods you can eat.Eat less chocolate.We’re sorry about this one. While delicious, chocolate (or growing cacao to create chocolate) requires a massive amount of land and can lead to deforestation. Cereals, breakfast or protein bars, and other desserts with chocolate will have higher environmental consequences than their chocolate-free alternatives.Just in the US, we eat enough chocolate every year to outweigh four Empire State Buildings. And while the demand is only growing, climate change is making it harder to grow cacao plants.If your sweet tooth can be satiated without chocolate, try desserts or cereal with fruit, caramel, pistachios, hazelnuts, or oats.If you want to eat chocolate, choose darker types.If giving up chocolate isn't realistic, try to consume dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.“Milk chocolate is going to have a higher environmental impact and be less nutritious than dark chocolate,” Hunnes said. “But that could also depend on how they’re growing the chocolate.”It depends on the brands you buy, so be sure to look for chocolate labeled “Fair Trade Certified” to ensure the brand follows ethical and sustainable growing practices. But in general, dark chocolate won’t contain as much dairy or sugar and will be better for the planet.Eat whole grains.Not all grains are created equally or sustainably. But whole grains require less water, are easy to transport, and have a longer shelf life than most other foods we eat. They also absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than some other plants, making them an environmental win at the store.In the bread aisle, go for brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat bread or pasta, oats, naans, pitas, or wraps. They will have less of an environmental effect and are often better for your health than cereal, white bread, white rice, chips, or crackers.Plus, eating more grains will support a more balanced food system. Right now, one-third of global croplands are used to feed livestock instead of going directly to humans. Of all the food grown to feed livestock, less than one-fifth of it makes it to our grocery shelves as meat, eggs, or dairy.“This is not sustainable, and it’s not even maintainable,” Hunnes said.Root vegetables are a good choice.Buying vegetables of any kind, especially if you’re choosing them over an animal product, is a step in the right direction, according to Palmer.“The more plant-based the diet, the lower the environmental footprint,” she said.But focusing on root vegetables and produce that need less water and space to grow will also help lower your personal footprint even more.For example, meals with potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, leeks, and onions are good choices because these vegetables need less energy to cultivate. They can also be stored for a long time, which helps reduce problematic food waste. Other nonroot vegetables to consider are broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, squash, bok choy, and cucumbers.When it comes to fruit, apples, bananas, berries, citrus, and grapes are some of the more sustainable foods to grow and enjoy.Consume more seeds and nuts.Though nuts are typically touted as a great source of protein, it does take a lot of water to grow them. If that’s a concern for you, you can opt for more eco-friendly choices, like sunflower seeds, the next time you’re grocery shopping.However, Palmer says that as long as you’re not eating nuts in bulk or wasting them, their environmental impact can be minimal.“Nuts have a very small portion size and they’re very dense,” Palmer said. “Eating 1 to 2 ounces of nuts per day is still going to have a lower water footprint than the average diet.”Though it depends on the brand and where the nuts are grown, you can choose to gravitate toward nuts that require less water. One almond can take more than 3 gallons to grow, so keep that in mind when eating almonds and other water-intensive foods, like walnuts. Nuts that require less water to grow are pistachios, pecans, cashews, chestnuts, peanuts (which are technically legumes), and hazelnuts.Regardless of the water use of a particular nut, they are overall still a much more sustainable protein than meat.Eat lower on the food chain.You can still consume meat or animal products and make sustainable choices in your diet.“We don’t have to completely remove anything from our diets,” Clark said. “It’s more about slowly moving in the plant-based direction.”Even if you indulge in meat, Palmer says, eating “lower on the food chain” can still make a big difference. Beef, lamb, and sheep require more land, water, and time than chicken or turkey to make the same amount of meat. Salmon, clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops are also choices that will make a smaller impact on the environment than other proteins.Meat alternatives are also a good source of protein that don’t use as many resources to produce as the real thing.How else can I change my food habits to help the environment?If you’d like to go even further in your journey toward more sustainable choices, here are more general changes that could lower your footprint:Don’t waste food. Nearly 40% of food is thrown away! That waste still took the same amount of land, water, greenhouse gas emissions, and effort to create, but no one gets the nutrition. Simply buying only what you will eat, actually eating it before it spoils, and taking advantage of leftovers could do wonders for our environmental impacts.Check for labels. “Fair Trade Certified,” “Food Alliance Certified,” “Green Seal,” “Rainforest Alliance Certified,” and “USDA Organic” labels ensure that brands are actually prioritizing sustainable and ethical growing methods (rather than just claiming to).Eat local. Food from farmers markets and local growers will likely contain fewer pesticides, and has traveled a shorter distance before you buy it. All of this lowers an item’s carbon load.Avoid plastic. Bring reusable grocery bags to the store, buy loose produce instead of prepackaged ones, and choose products in glass over plastic.Even if these swaps in your diet may seem small in terms of the big picture, Hunnes emphasized that what you do matters.“When you start to think microscopically, it can be really self-defeating,” Hunnes said. “Anything makes a difference. And the more people that get involved and make the step, the better off we will all be.” ● | Climate Change |
Panicked shoppers have emptied supermarket shelves of bottled water in 'bone dry Britain', as water bosses urge people to limit their showers to four minutes, tip bath water on plants and let cars gather dust to help tackle England's drought.A drought was declared on Friday for half of England, the first since 2018 – although that one was rapidly brought to an end by heavy rain. Despite the threat of torrential downpours and thunderstorms on Monday, much of southern England is unlikely to see significant rain until September. As Britain sweltered in temperatures hotter than parts of the Caribbean on Friday, an Aldi store in London put up posters limiting customers to between three and five bottles of drinking water each amid panic buying. The shop later took down the notices.Today's official drought declaration does not automatically trigger legal limits on water use in the eight areas of England named today but it will pile more pressure on more water companies to ban customers from using hosepipes and sprinklers. Washing cars with buckets of water from the tap could soon be outlawed.If no rain arrives in the coming weeks, millions could also be banned from cleaning any vehicles, buildings and windows. It could also mean water rationing for households.Britons have been told to pour bath water on plants, limit showers to four minutes long, put less water in the kettle, only do fully loads of laundry in washing machines and put on the dishwasher a maximum of once a day.In response to the advice from water companies, people have been panic buying bottled water, leaving supermarket shelves empty and staff forced to leave signs limiting customers to five single water bottles each.Affinity and Wessex Water, covering 2.8 million people in the south west of England, urged their customers to cut their showers to four minutes, adding that they need to flush the toilet 'only when you need to' or collect water from running taps to flush with instead.Anglian Water, covering almost seven million people in the East of England and Hartlepool, urged people to use paddling pool water to empty them onto gardens, while Thames Water said that customers should check for leaks in their toilets, spray plants with water in the morning and turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.Extreme weather warnings by the Met Office are set to last all weekend, with temperatures expected to reach 34C (93.2F) in London on Saturday and 33C (91.4F) in Southampton on Sunday ahead of yellow weather warnings of intense thunderstorms and possible floods on Monday.Tesco and Sainsbury's supermarkets in London, Evesham, Stalybridge and Taplow were pictured with empty shelves of water on Friday evening, with many reporting the same issue of panic buying bottled water on Twitter. Panicked shoppers have emptied supermarket shelves of bottled water in 'bone dry Britain', as water bosses urge people to limit their showers to four minutes, tip bath water on plants and let cars gather dust to help tackle England's drought. Pictured, a Sainsburys supermarket in Taplow, BuckinghamshireLONDON: Aldi put up posters in one store limiting customers to between three and five bottles of drinking water each amid panic buying. The store later took down the notices. A shopper with cases of bottled water in Aldi supermarket in London on Friday which rationed drinking water as the heatwave continuesOne complained: 'Panic buying bottled water! What is wrong with people. My water tap works perfectly well.'Another said: 'I had a minor breakdown when the plan to stop in a supermarket for a sammich and a big bottle of water was scuppered by the fact that they had no sandwiches and literally no bottles of water.' The Government has insisted that there will be no repeat of household taps going dry like in 1976, where millions had to use standpipes in the street. 'All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe,' Water Minister Steve Double said on Friday, adding: 'We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed'. Where in the UK is there an official drought? The Environment Agency has confirmed that eight of its 14 areas are officially experiencing drought.These are:Devon and CornwallSolent and South DownsKent and South LondonHerts and North LondonEast AngliaThamesLincolnshire and NorthamptonshireEast Midlands Thames Water, the UK's largest water company, yesterday issued a dire warning to customers in north London, Oxfordshire and Surrey via text that they could expect low pressure, dry taps and rationed bottled water if they need it.After a string of major leaks in the capital and Kent this week, a new burst pipe is currently hitting homes and businesses in the Cricklewood and Kilburn areas of north London. Another major leak also caused problems in a large area between Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and Oxford.'Technical issues' at the Netley Mill water treatment works in Surrey, which supplies 8,500 properties in the county, also led to residents being offered bottled water for cooking, drinking and hand washing at a local leisure centre as tankers were brought in to pump more water 'into the local supply network'.In one text sent to Thames Water customers in Oxfordshire, seen by MailOnline, the company, which has 15million customers, said: 'Demand for water locally is at an all-time high, so you may experience problems with your supply'. And Surrey customers without water were told: 'We’ve opened a bottled water station for those needing temporary supplies. The water is for essential use. Please be considerate and don’t take more than you need'.Residents in London, the South West, Southern and Central England and East of England have been moved into drought status where they are being urged to be frugal with water because of the driest summer in 50 years with no rain and 35C [95f] forecast today, 37C [98f] forecast tomorrow and 35C [95f] on Sunday.The move will also put pressure on water companies to do more to conserve supplies after a number of major leaks in recent weeks wasting millions of gallons of water. The heat and dry conditions have also taken their toll on agriculture, including grains, fruit and vegetables. The National Farmers Union also said 'tinder dry' standing crops and parched grass posed a huge risk of fires spreading as Britons were urged not to have barbecues in case it starts blazes amid warnings that fire brigades are already too stretched to cope.Hosepipe bans have already been announced for around 17million people – and another 15million could soon join them. Parts of southern England had the driest July since records began, and reservoir levels have fallen to their lowest levels in last 30 years. A shoppers next to bottled drinking water in Sainsbury's supermarket in London on Friday as the heatwave continues and the National Drought Group declared an official drought across much of England Thames Water has set up water stations in Surrey and texted customers in Oxfordshire after more major water leaksMANCHESTER: The low supplies of water at the Tesco superstore in Stalybridge pictured on Friday WORCESTERSHIRE: Low bottled water supplies were also on show at Tesco's Evesham store, pictured on Friday Only limited stocks of bottled water were available in the Tesco supermarket in Taplow on Friday evening as people stock up on water during the heatwave Some customers also reported to be panic buying in supermarkets yesterday due to the expected Thames Water hose pipe banPanic buying has broken out amid rising prices and continuing boiling conditions OXFORSHIRE: A tanker from Thames Water pumps water into another tanker in the village of Northend, where the water company is moving water into the supply network following a technical issue at Stokenchurch Reservoir. Pictured on Wednesday WEST YORKSHIRE: Low water levels at Baitings Reservoir in Ripponden reveal an ancient pack horse bridge as drought conditions continue in the heatwave (pictured Friday) SOMERSET: An aerial view of Wessex Water's Sutton Bingham Reservoir near Yeovil, pictured Friday KENT: Heatwave in the UK dries up the Nailbourne, part of the River Stour, which runs through Patrixbourne and Bridge near Canterbury, pictured ThursdayDespite hosepipe bans for millions, leaks are failing to be fixed across the country. Water was gushing out of a hole in Fordwych Road in Cricklewood EAST LONDON: Flames from a grass fire burning on Leyton flats (pictured Friday) as a drought has been declared for parts of England Bournemouth: The south coast beach was rammed yesterday afternoon as people enjoyed the sunshine and a sea breeze Fix the leaks before hitting us with hosepipe bans! Water companies imposing hosepipe bans have come under fire from angry customers for repeatedly failing to fix leaks.Seven water firms across England and Wales have already declared a hosepipe ban or start dates for the restriction, affecting more than 30 million people.The ban comes into force as an official drought was declared in parts of the south, south west and central England and the east of the country.People on social media, however, are becoming increasingly angry that while their own personal water usage is being capped, huge water leaks from pipes owned by the ban-imposing companies are taking weeks at times to fix the issue. More than 15 million people across the Thames Valley region will be hit with the ban on using hosepipes and sprinklers in the coming weeks - the water company giant is yet to confirm an official start date.Earlier this week Thames Water admitted that despite trying to be ‘efficient’ with water usage, like the Germans and the Danes, the company loses more than 635 million litres of water a day. Yesterday, Yorkshire Water became the fifth company in England and Wales to announce a hosepipe ban for its five million customers. Southern Water, South East Water, Welsh Water and Thames Water have all announced hosepipe bans either now or in the coming weeks. South West Water and Severn Trent have all indicated they will also bring in restrictions. Together, they would cover more than 32 million people.Temperatures hit 34C (93.2F) yesterday - making the country hotter than parts of the Caribbean and threatening crops like potatoes, apples, hops, broccoli and sprouts. The conditions, which have almost completely deprived some areas of rainfall all summer, have prompted the National Drought Group to move parts of the South West, parts of southern and central England, and the East of England into official drought status.The change could lead to more measures such as hosepipe bans, however, the Environment Agency has reassured the public that essential water supplies are safe.The NDG is made up of representatives from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, water companies, the Environment Agency, the National Farmers' Union, Natural England, Consumer Council for Water, water services regulator Ofwat, Water UK and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, as well as the Angling Trust and the Rivers Trust.Water Minister Steve Double said action was already being taken by the Government, the Environment Agency and others to manage the impacts.'All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe, and we have made it clear it is their duty to maintain those supplies', he said.'We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed.'The most recent EA data showed rainfall totals for August have ranged from 12% of the long-term average in north east England to 0% in southeast and south west England.Meanwhile river flow data revealed almost 90% of measuring sites were showing below normal readings, with 29% classed as 'exceptionally low'.It comes after the driest July on record for some areas and the driest first half of the year since 1976.Four water companies, Welsh Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, and South East Water have all imposed hosepipe bans, while Yorkshire Water has announced a ban will start on August 26.The National Drought Group - made up of Government and agency officials, water companies and other groups such as the National Farmers' Union (NFU) - is set to meet tomorrow to discuss the prolonged dry weather Drought Q&A: Who decides if we're in one, could if affect food supplies, and at what stage are standpipes brought in?Who decides if it's a drought?The Environment Agency's National Drought Group declares when there is a drought. The group is made up of powerbrokers in the water sector with representatives from government ministries, water firms, unions and regulators and is chaired by Harvey Bradshaw, director of the agency.What makes it a drought?There is no single definition for a drought or set of measures that must be met. Instead, the group looks at rainfall, water supplies in rivers, reservoirs and lakes and temperature forecasts. If they decide the factors have combined in a certain way to warrant a warning, they will raise the alarm and offer a prediction of how severe the drought will be and how long it will last.There are two stages of drought they could declare:1. Amber – where there is a risk of stress on water supplies, reduced crop yields and increased wildfires.2. Red – involving a risk of widespread environmental damage, wildfires, failure of crops and of water supplies. The last severe drought was in 2011.What happens under each scenario?AMBERIn an amber-level drought, water supplies come under stress, wildlife habitats are harmed, wildfires break out and farmers suffer lower crop yields, according to the National Drought Group. Prolonged dry conditions are already causing problems for crops like potatoes, apples, hops, broccoli and sprouts, and there are fears Britain risks a looming vegetable shortage. Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association, said Britain 'could be in a major deficit position', where domestic supplies cannot meet demand. He said: 'The temperatures we are seeing here are being replicated around Europe so European production sites are facing similar challenges. This could lead to less product and less choice.' Long dry periods are problematic for wildlife because they can reduce the amount of food available to animals. Fish may also be affected by lower oxygen levels in the water. RED The impacts of a red-level drought include the 'failure of public and private water supplies', the National Drought Group says. Along with 'widespread' wildfires, the failure of crops and plants for fodder would increase food prices and worsen shortages of certain produce. The extremely dry summer of 1975 saw sheep, pigs and calves die in the high temperatures, while milk yields fell and lambs and cattle took longer to fatten, according to a Royal Society paper. Crops suffered not only from a lack of water but also from an increase in pests and diseases. What restrictions will water companies bring in? AMBER Once a drought is declared, the National Drought Group can limit the amount of water companies can take from rivers and ensure there are suitable plans for dealing with drought incidents. In some situations, the group will perform an 'emergency fish rescue' from drying-out bodies of water. It can also stop businesses using spray irrigation as well as advising the public how to conserve water.There could also be hosepipe bans and further restrictions on non-essential water use, including car washes and swimming pools. There would be 'prolonged' restrictions on canal and river navigation due to low water levels, and companies that consume large amounts of water would be forced to apply for permits to continue doing so. REDA severe drought could lead to water rationing and the introduction of standpipes or mobile water tanks. A huge emergency response would include the convening of COBRA, the government's emergency committee. Water companies could impose rationing at certain times of day and the introduction of standpipes or mobile water tanks. The permit regime would also be substantially toughened up to protect public water supplies. All other amber restrictions would be further strengthened. The heat and dry conditions have also taken their toll on agriculture.According to the NFU, crops such as sugar beet and maize are showing signs of stress from a lack of rain, while crops relying on irrigation, such as field vegetables and potatoes, are also facing problems.NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw said the situation was 'hugely challenging' for farmers who were facing running out of irrigation water and having to use winter feed for animals because of a lack of grass.The NFU also said 'tinder dry' standing crops and parched grass posed a huge risk of fires spreading.Mark Hardingham, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, said: 'While we are likely to see more wildfires due to the current conditions, it is impossible to say whether this will be more than when the country experienced 40-degree temperatures.'The bigger risk at the moment is a combination of temperature and wind speed, which will contribute to fire spread and makes incidents harder to manage and extinguish.'However, he added brigades were 'well prepared and have plans in place' to respond.Panic buyers have returned - and this time they're after bottles of water in preparation for the impending drought.Now, Brits are returning to the pre-Covid angst of empty shelves and are trying to stock up on water before it's too late.One user took to Twitter and wrote: 'I'm going to rush out and buy 6 months stock of bottled water now!'However, evidently some people are already furnishing their supply, with another user saying he saw one person at the supermarket with two trolleys full of bottled water. Yorkshire Water will bring in a hosepipe ban from August 26, with its director of water, Neil Dewis, saying parts of the county had seen the lowest rainfall since records began more than 130 years ago. Under the restrictions, customers are banned from using a hosepipe to water their gardens, clean their vehicles, fill their swimming pools or clean their homes.However, they are still permitted to complete those activities with tap water from a bucket or watering can, or using water that is not sourced from taps. Businesses will only be allowed to use a hosepipe if it is directly related to a commercial purpose.Parts of southern England have seen the driest July since records began, and reservoir levels have fallen to their lowest levels in 30 years. Sources last night said they expect the drought declaration to be a 'formality'. A four-day amber warning for extreme heat from the Met Office is in place for much of England and Wales until Sunday as temperatures are forecasted to rise to 99F (37C) over the weekend with warnings of health impacts and disruption to travel. There are also fears rain after the dry weather will cause flash floods, the Met Office said, with warnings set for northern parts of the UK next week. This has already prompted farmers like TV star Jeremy Clarkson to harvest their crops early. 'It may be the wrong type of rain because it falls very fast and very hard,' Paul Davies, the Met Office chief meteorologist, told the BBC. 'When it comes against the hard ground then the water flows very fast, taking debris and causing flash flooding, whereas other areas may see very little at all.' A drought would be the first declared in the UK since 2018 – although that one was rapidly brought to an end by heavy rain. The move was announced after a meeting of the National Drought Group yesterday, led by the Environment Agency and including water firms and groups such as the National Farmers' Union and the Angling Trust. While an official declaration of drought will not trigger any specific action by water companies, it creates a 'sense of urgency' for them, according to Government sources. An Environment Agency spokesman said firms were under no obligation to take action. There has been criticism that water firms in England and Wales let 681 million gallons of water leak from their pipes every day, equivalent to 1,245 full Olympic swimming pools. Tory leadership candidate Rishi Sunak yesterday vowed to crack down on leaking water companies if he becomes prime minister, saying 'nothing is off the table'. But aides in Liz Truss's camp said this amounted to a policy U-turn as he had previously supported hosepipe bans. The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology said it would require 'exceptional' rainfall over the next one to three months to replenish water stocks. Satellite images show huge areas of England looking yellow and parched under the extreme dry weather. According to the Sun, some supermarket shelves were stripped dry from water bottles. Hosepipe bans also in turn have an effect on farmers, which could threaten crops. Jerry Knox, a professor of agricultural water management at Cranfield University, told the Guardian: 'We are starting to see real issues for crops such as potatoes. We will see reduced yields and particularly reduced quality.''Potatoes are set to become more expensive while farmers are already abandoning plans to grow brassicas like cabbages,' Professor Jerry Knox of Cranfield University told the Times. 'The autumn and winter will be critical to to return to normal conditions.' What's causing Europe's extreme summer? As England officially declares drought, rivers run dry in Germany and 'monster' wildfires ravage France - SHIVALI BEST on how the answer could lie far away over the Atlantic Europe is sweltering through a record-breaking summer of heatwaves and drought that has parched the continent and turned forests tinder-dry. Wildfires are blazing across France, while Germany's most-important river, the Rhine, is on the verge of running dry, and swathes of England are officially in drought, as announced yesterday. In this video, MailOnline's Shivali Best explains the Azores High - a new weather phenomena that is 'driving Europe's extreme drought'. The Azores High usually sits to the south but is currently directly over the UK and Ireland, stretching from the Azores Islands Using climate models, scientists simulated global weather over the past 1,200 years and found that the number of large Azores Highs is extremely unusual A general view of dry grass on the football pitches at Hackney Marshes. The Met Office has issued an amber extreme heat warning which came into force on Thursday and covers the rest of this week Cattle search for drinking water on Dartmoor, Devon at what until recently was an established watering hole, but is now completely dry An aerial view of the harvest during the heatwave in Scampton, Lincolnshire. Parts of southern England have had the driest July since records began, and reservoirs are at their lowest level for 30 years. Sources last night said they expect the drought declaration to be a 'formality' Low water level is pictured yesterday at Pontsticill Reservoir amid the ongoing heat wave near Merthyr Tydfil, Wales An image of scorched Britain captured on July 10 showed how ongoing drought conditions have affected the country Anglian Water staff handing out energy bottles of water to the residents of Haddenham in Cambridgeshire on Thursday afternoon The driest first seven months of the year in decades and hot spells have left parts of the UK facing looming drought, prompting hosepipe bans and warnings about the impact on agriculture, rivers and wildlife. Pictured: A dried out pond in Churchill Gardens, Bromley, east London New oak trees in Windsor Great Park begin to grow next to dead oak trees which still provide a vital habitat for insects A completely dry pond in Wanstead Park in northeast London, as heatwaves and drought caused by climate change continue in the UK A dried riverbed in Kemble, Gloucestershire, near the source of the River Thames is pictured yesterday Firefighters put out a grass fire at Hollow Ponds in Leytonstone, East London, yesterdayProfessor Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said: 'Drought will not disappear in a matter of days — it's going to take a long period of sustained rainfall.'The UK Health Security Agency has put a heat health alert in place. Temperatures hit 34.2C (93.6F) at Wiggonholt, West Sussex, yesterday.Forecaster Craig Snell said: 'It's going to be an incredibly hot day, and very sunny across the board, with temperatures slightly higher than what we saw on Thursday.' There is also a heat health alert in place from the UK Health Security Agency, with experts advising people to look out for those who are older or with existing health conditions, as well as young children. The ongoing dry conditions, combined with last month's record-breaking heatwave, have depleted rivers, reservoirs and aquifers and dried up soils, hitting agriculture, water supplies and wildlife and raising the risk of wildfires. Four water companies in England and Wales have already brought in hosepipe bans or have signalled their intention to do so, while the Wildlife Trusts have called for an England-wide hosepipe ban to protect nature and rivers. Brits have been trying to beat the hosepipe band by coming out with initiative solutions to get around the measure Pictured: West Midlands fire service are warning Britons to stay safe in the heat and keep hydrated throughout the heatwave A fire which broke out on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire yesterday as the UK is warned of more wildfires at the weekend Firefighters attend to a fire yesterday, following a long period of hot weather and little rain in Rainham, Essex on ThursdayFirefighters attend to a fire in Rainham, Essex, following a long period of hot weather and little rain on Thursday A water tanker in Northend, Oxfordshire, yesterday as dozens of homes in the Oxfordshire village were left without water after E.coli was found in a nearby reservoir Grass wildfire on Canvey Island yesterday. A wildfire started very close to the big Morrison's store and spread very quickly A man is pictured walking on a path amongst dead grass in Victoria Park, east London. The Met Office has issued an amber heat warning running between Thursday and Sunday, which could see temperatures peak at 36C across southern England and eastern Wales What is your water company doing to cope with the dry weather? Five water companies have announced hosepipe bans in the UK as another heatwave scorches the country.Yorkshire Water was the latest to say it expects to implement a temporary usage ban (TUB) in the coming weeks due to the dry weather.Here are each water company's current guidelines concerning hosepipe bans and water usage across the UK, alongside water leakage statistics for those based in England and Wales:- Anglian Water Area: East of England and HartlepoolCustomers: Six millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 86 litresA spokesman said: 'We have no hosepipe bans currently in place across our region and we're working hard to keep it that way, but we're watching river levels very closely right now as things can change quickly and the forecast for this month remains dry and warm.'- Welsh Water (Dwr Cymru)Area: Most of Wales and parts of western England on the border with WalesCustomers: Three millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 116 litresThe company has introduced a hosepipe ban for customers in the region of Pembrokeshire and a small part of Carmarthenshire, which will come into effect on August 19.The TUB will be in place 'until we have had enough rain to replenish our water resources'.- Hafren DyfrdwyArea: North-east and mid-WalesLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 134 litresThe water provider does not currently have any restrictions in place but has not ruled out implementing 'joint policies' along with the Welsh government should the situation with the dry weather worsen.A spokesman said: 'Whilst we don't have any concerns about raw water position for Hafren Dyfrdwy, we continue to monitor the situation and are a part of the Welsh Government's Taskforce, working closely with them to create joint policies and processes in the event of drought action.'- Northumbrian WaterCustomers: 2.7 millionArea: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and parts of North YorkshireLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 110 litresThe website says there are 'no plans in place to implement any drought measures such as hosepipe bans', but adds it is 'good practice' to use water wisely.- Severn Trent WaterArea: From the Bristol Channel to the Humber and from mid-Wales to the East MidlandsLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 112 litresThe region covered by Severn Trent Water currently has no hosepipe bans in place.However, the company said it will continue to monitor reservoir levels and demand for water 'closely', as it does every year, for any changes.- South West WaterArea: Devon, Cornwall, parts of Dorset and SomersetCustomers: 1.7 millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 118 litresSouth West water customers are at risk of 'formal restrictions' being introduced over the coming weeks.The last water restriction in the region was in 1996, but the company said on August 3 it may have to make the 'difficult decision' to introduce restrictions 'if the exceptional levels of demand and sustained dry weather continues'.- Southern WaterArea: The south-west of England, including Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, most of Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and HampshireCustomers: 2.5 millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 87 litresA hosepipe ban has been in place for customers in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight since August 5.The company has applied for a Drought Permit on the River Test from the Environment Agency to allow them to continue to 'take water if levels continue to drop'.- Thames WaterArea: London and the Thames ValleyCustomers: 15 millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 161 litresThames Water said it is planning to issue a hosepipe ban in the coming weeks 'given the long term forecast' of hot and dry weather for the region.It added: 'The timing is not confirmed due to a number of operational and legal procedural requirements but we will be updating our customers, partners, regulators and stakeholders at the earliest time to ensure a co-ordinated approach.'In the meantime, we continue to urge our customers to only use what they need for their essential use.'- United UtilitiesArea: The North West in a region from Crewe to CarlisleCustomers: More than three millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 130 litresA company spokesman said it is 'not considering any restrictions on use' of water at present but did encourage customers to use water wisely.- Wessex WaterArea: The South West including Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and HampshireCustomers: 2.8 millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 111 litresNo hosepipe bans are planned by Wessex Water but the company does warn that reservoir and groundwater levels are low and urges customers to 'use water responsibly'.- Yorkshire WaterArea: West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of DerbyshireCustomers: More than five millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 130 litresA spokesman said: 'Parts of Yorkshire have seen the lowest rainfall since our records began more than 130 years ago,' he said.'The hot, dry, weather means that Yorkshire's rivers are running low and our reservoirs are around 20% lower than we would expect for this time of year. We've been doing everything we can to avoid putting in restrictions but, unfortunately, they're now necessary as part of our drought planning.'We've been monitoring reservoir levels, weather forecasts and other environmental indicators closely to determine whether we might need to put further measures in place.'- Affinity WaterArea: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey and other parts of the South EastCustomers: 3.83 millionLeakage per property per day in 2020/2021: 120 litresParts of the South East covered by Affinity Water are 'unlikely' to see any hosepipe ban this year.The company's website says: 'At current levels, it's unlikely we'll need to introduce restrictions this year.'- Bristol WaterArea: Bristol city, north east Somerset and south GloucestershireCustomers: More than 500,000Leakage per property per day in 20 | Climate Change |
An empty freeway intersection is seen two days before Earth Day, after Los Angeles’ stay-at-home order caused a drop in pollution, as the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 20, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Department on Thursday announced it is proposing to require that state transportation agencies set new targets for reducing tailpipe emissions on the national highway system.The department's Federal Highway Administration told Reuters states will have flexibility "to set targets that work for their respective climate change policies and other policy priorities, so long as they are in line with the net-zero goals by 2050 set forth in this rule."President Joe Biden has set a U.S. target of achieving a 50% to 52% reduction from 2005 levels of economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030 in a step toward reaching net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comStates would also be required to report on their progress in meeting the targets under the proposed rule. Currently, state laws require 24 states and the District of Columbia to set targets and track their greenhouse gas emissions. Reuters reported the planned rule earlier.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the "approach gives states the flexibility they need to set their own emission reduction targets."He noted that a $1 trillion infrastructure bill approved in November created a $6.4 billion Carbon Reduction Program to provide state and local funding to "develop carbon reduction strategies and fund a wide range of projects designed to reduce carbon emissions from on-road highway sources."The transportation sector accounts for the largest source of U.S. emissions. The rule seeks "standardizing practices that many states have already established economy-wide, by making data comparable across states lines and metropolitan areas, and by facilitating better planning and outcomes for local communities."State transportation agencies would establish two- and four-year statewide emissions reduction targets.The Environmental Protection Agency said last month it plans to propose new, more stringent vehicle emissions rules through at least the 2030 model year by the end of March.In December, the EPA finalized new vehicle emissions requirements through 2026 that reversed then-President Donald Trump's rollback of car pollution cuts.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Mainstream media fact-checkers are going to bat for Vice President Kamala Harris after her remarks about hurricane relief and climate change caused a widespread backlash. Last week, when speaking at the Democratic National Committee's Women’s Leadership Forum, Harris said it's "our lowest income communities, and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions," when referring to hurricanes, on the heels of Ian. "We have to address this in a way that's about giving resources based on equity, understanding we fight for equality but we also need to fight for equity," she added.The remarks drew swift criticism, as some believed that Harris essentially stated that aid would be distributed based on racial and economic "equity," but fact-checkers at the Associated Press, Reuters and PolitiFact have all rushed to her defense, saying she was talking more broadly about climate change. US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Committee Women's Leadership Forum in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS KAMALA HARRIS' HURRICANE RELIEF 'EQUITY' REMARKSThe AP published a headline, "Harris comments on addressing climate inequity misrepresented," that noted the claim "Harris said that Hurricane Ian relief will be distributed based on race, with communities of color receiving aid first" was "false." "Harris spoke about distributing resources equitably to help vulnerable groups, such as low income communities and communities of color, recover from disasters related to climate change. She did not describe the structure that would be used to allocate aid to victims of the recent hurricane," AP news verification specialist Melissa Goldin wrote. "In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, widespread social media posts mischaracterized Harris’ comments, claiming that she said communities of color will be prioritized in the distribution of storm relief," Goldin continued, adding that Harris was responding to a "multipart question" about both Hurricane Ian aid and long-term efforts tied to climate change. "Harris, in response, mentioned Hurricane Ian in passing, but did not talk about specific relief efforts the federal government would undertake," Goldin wrote. "Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates told the AP that these claims about race-based aid are ‘inaccurate’ and that Harris was actually discussing long-term goals for addressing climate change that have bipartisan support." VP KAMALA HARRIS DODGES QUESTION ASKING ABOUT DISPERSING HURRICANE IAN RELIEF BASED ON 'EQUITY'Reuters took a similar approach with a headline, "Fact Check-Clip of Kamala Harris on hurricane relief and equity taken out of context online."The news-gathering service wrote that Harris’ quote "has been circulating online without full context" and that the vice president didn’t truly say Hurricane Ian relief funds would be distributed based on "equity." Vice President Kamala Harris' remarks about hurricane relief, climate change and "equity" caused a widespread backlash. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)"The short clip cuts the full context of the comment, where Harris was asked about Hurricane Ian relief efforts as well as how the United States should respond to climate change impacts more broadly," Reuters wrote. "The specific comment Harris made about providing resources based on equity was in response to a lengthy question."Reuters then examined the question asked by actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas."So, can you talk just a little bit about the relief efforts obviously of Hurricane Ian and what the administration has been doing to address the climate crisis in the States but, and just a little follow-up, because this is important to me. We consider the global implications of emissions, right? The poorest countries are affected the most," Chopra Jonas said. "They contribute the least and are affected the most. So, how should voters in the U.S. feel about the administration’s long-term goals when it comes to being the international influencer on this topic?" The viral clip of Harris’ response was "missing context," according to Reuters. "Harris was addressing a lengthy question about how to tackle extreme weather events broadly when commenting that resources should be distributed in a way that is equitable. The comment was not made specifically about relief post-Hurricane Ian," Reuters wrote. Vice President Kamala Harris was widely criticized over recent comments about hurricane relief, but fact-checkers leapt to her aid. (Reuters/Hannah Beier)POLITIFACT FOCUSES FACT-CHECKS MORE ON BIDEN'S CRITICS THAN PRESIDENT HIMSELF, STUDY FINDSPolitiFact also stuck up for Harris. PolitiFact wrote that the Vice President had been taken "out-of-context" in clips from the event on social media shared by conservatives and ruled, "Harris did not say any particular race would be prioritized in relief efforts," quoting the White House to back up the fact-check. "The White House said her comments about equity were referring to long-term, bipartisan investments in underserved communities, not immediate hurricane relief," PolitiFact wrote. The fact-check specifically called out Florida Sen. Rick Scott's, R., claim that Harris had said, "if you have a different skin color, you're going to get relief faster.""Conservatives, including Florida Sen. Rick Scott, seized on a shortened, out-of-context clip of Harris’ answer to make it seem as if Harris said federal storm relief would be based solely on race and equity," the fact-check read."Harris said no such thing in a response to a question that touched on several topics, including Hurricane Ian, climate change policy and disparities in who is most harmed by climate change and extreme weather," PolitiFact wrote.Factcheck.org also looked into the claim, although it concluded, "readers can judge for themselves what Harris meant to say," claiming also that Harris was broadly talking about the climate change fight.Big Tech companies wanted to see the comments fact-checked as well. A Google search of the term "Kamala Harris equity" Thursday resulted in the four fact-checks appearing at the top of the page, and Twitter also promoted the fact-checks on behalf of Harris as an "event" on Wednesday.Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Brian Flood is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @briansflood. | Climate Change |
Venice, ItalyThe cataclysmic flood of November 12, 2019, washed unremarkably into Venice, Italy’s Piazza San Marco around 6 a.m. Two hours later, the rising waters began to tail off at about three feet above normal sea level, leaving 90 percent of the city untouched. Venetians breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was just another mildly unpleasant acqua alta, high tide, in the lagoon.The calm lasted until 4 p.m., just before night fell. Sirens began to sound, and within an hour the ancient squares and narrow walkways along the city’s 26 miles of canals had vanished under ferocious torrents of seawater. “This wasn’t simply a tide,” says Marco Malafonte, who co-owns a property management firm with his wife, Caroline Gucchierato. “It was a colossal wave, something we’d never seen before. A tsunami."The couple split off in separate directions, joining ad hoc rescue teams. In the San Marco quarter, Venice’s lowest-lying district, Gucchierato came to the aid of an elderly French tourist standing up to her neck in the raging flood, pinned against a stone wall. She had perched her infant grandson on a ledge, holding onto him until help arrived. Vaporettos, the iconic 80-foot-long Venetian water buses, “were thrown up onto walkways and bridges like children’s toys,” recalls Malafonte. At 8 p.m., the surge finally crested at just over six feet, with 85 percent of the city submerged. It was the second highest flood tide ever registered in Venice, nearly eight inches above the average height of its residents.Before the world climate crisis began building in the 1970s, that terrible November night might have been written off as a freakish disaster. But in 2022, Venice—La Serenissima—is a poster child for climate change. The occasional destructive acqua alta, which occurred just a few times per century before 2000, has become the new normal as sea levels rise around the globe. Of the 25 worst acque alte registered in Venice in the past 100 years, each topping 4.5 feet, more than half have happened since December 2009.That has prompted Venetian officials to spend billions on a series of moveable walls to block high waters from the city. Called Mose in Italian, Moses in English, the system is in use and seems to be working. In effect, Moses temporarily divorces La Serenissima from the sea, closing off the entire Venetian Lagoon from menacing tides in the turbulent northern Adriatic Sea. The audacious engineering experiment is a last-ditch effort to stave off a final disaster for one of the world’s most beautiful and fragile cities. But it poses fatal environmental risks to the lagoon’s equally fragile and disappearing salt marshes, whose protective structure and biodiversity have been giving life to Venice for 1,800 years. How Moses worksMoses began taking shape in 1987. It is a system of mobile tide barriers formally called the Experimental Electromechanical Model, but its acronym invokes the biblical prophet who parted the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to escape captivity in Egypt.The project has engaged some of Europe’s largest construction firms, under the direction of an Italian government-sponsored consortium called Venezia Nuova (New Venice). Its cost to date has ballooned to more than $6 billion from an initial euro budget projection equivalent to $4.5 billion. The price tag is highly controversial in Italy, as is a long string of work stoppages due to unpaid debts and political scandals.In 2014, then Venice mayor Giorgio Orsoni was arrested on charges of accepting over half a million dollars in illegal campaign contributions from Venezia Nuova in return for alleged influence in contract allocations. Although the judicial verdicts were inconclusive, Orsoni and 24 city council members subsequently resigned from their posts. The Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, in conjunction with the consortium, began manufacturing the system’s components in 2003. On-site installation opened in 2008. The long-term goal is to protect Venice until at least the end of the century, when sea levels are expected to have risen another two feet. Although Moses will not be fully operational until December 2023, by late 2020 its partially completed barriers were ready for live testing. The functional heart of the project is a battery of four gigantic surge barriers that span three inlets to the lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. The two largest barriers, comprised respectively of 21 and 20 steel gates, are separated by a control center on an artificial island and stretch a combined half mile across the Lido inlet, just east of the main islands of urban Venice. Each is outfitted with a lock that allows small vessels to leave or enter the lagoon when the barrier is raised.A third set of 19 gates was installed 7.5 miles south at the 46-foot-deep Malamocco inlet, where a much larger adjacent lock provides access to the lagoon during high tides for cargo freighters and industrial ships. The fourth set, with 18 gates, lies near the port of Chioggia on the lagoon’s southern limits, with a double lock serving fishing boats, pleasure craft, and emergency vessels.The most experimental aspect of Moses is that all of its 10-ton gates are discreetly invisible, hidden in seabed cradles, until there’s a tidal alarm. Whenever the sea level rises to 3.5 feet above normal, they are currently programmed to be lifted automatically by 156 electronic hinges, two per gate. The hinges pump compressed air into the gates and elevate them to their maximum 10-foot height from the water’s surface in 30 minutes. When the danger passes, they are electronically refilled with water and lowered back into their underwater casings.Moses was activated for the first time on October 3, 2020 to meet a tide higher than four feet. The results were dramatic, and largely stilled the most common criticism of the project: that it wouldn’t work. In fact, for the first time in its long struggle with high waters, Venice remained astonishingly dry. Over the following 20 months, its gates were lifted 33 more times, in tests ranging from 30 to 92 minutes, with the same results. “The barriers are ready. They absolutely protect Venice,” Moses’ High Commissioner Elisabetta Spitz declared in a National Geographic interview on May 16, 2022. The cost of keeping Venice dryThe vaporetto that ferries passengers from Piazza San Marco sails east along the two largest spans of Moses and the high-security command center on the artificial island between them. The gates themselves are hidden in their cradles. But their land-based operative infrastructure, clusters of giant compressors, warehouses, and office buildings, fills the skyline. A team of four University of Padova marine research scientists meets me at the Punta Sabbioni wharf, near the tip of the 12-mile-long—and barely three-feet-high— peninsula separating the northern end of the lagoon from the Adriatic. Just to our west are the deep-green fields of Sant’ Erasmo, the fertile garden island that provides Venice with its best artichokes, zucchini, and tomatoes. We board a small, rented launch, piloted by hydraulic engineer Alvise Finotello, which carries us to the San Felice salt marsh. We don mud boots and step ashore.At low tide on a sun-struck morning in May, San Felice is an airy field of salicorn, cord grass, sea lavender, and other estuarial plants waving in the morning breeze. The lagoonal waters have retreated into a web of narrow channels teeming with small fish, crabs, and seagrass. By early evening, the entire marsh will be fully submerged by the tide, its flora and fauna busily capturing nutrients necessary to their health—as well as the lagoon’s.This is the universe that Moses threatens, one of “halophytic” vegetation, salt-tolerant plants that spend part of each day on land and part underwater, where they are nourished by clouds of incoming and outgoing tidal sediment that the flood gates block when in place. The sediment enables the plants to grow, and in the process, reinforce the sand banks and structure of the lagoon: its very existence. The salt marshes are “hotspots for biodiversity,” D’Alpoas says; without them and the ecosystems they foster, the lagoon would die. They also account for one of nature’s most critical roles in the struggle to confront climate change.“They are extraordinarily efficient at sequestering carbon dioxide and storing it in the soil as organic carbon,” says geologist Massimiliano Ghinassi. “One square kilometer of the Venetian marshes annually removes 370 tons of carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere, at a rate 50 times greater than that of tropical forests,” such as those in the Amazon. Finotello, fellow hydraulic engineer Davide Tognin, and team leader Andrea D’Alpoas, an environmental engineer and leading authority on the lagoon, provide me with background, while Ghinassi inserts a long, T-handled cylindrical tool into the spongy ground. The cross-disciplinary mixture of experts is deliberate, D’Alpoas explains. “Eliminating the walls between pure science and engineering brings diverse perspectives into our work—and better results.”Ghinassi bends his weight into the tool with a twisting motion, then carefully pulls it back up, loaded with a core sample of the marsh’s soil. “This is the biography of San Felice roughly 500 years ago,” he says, pointing at the deeper end of the sample, which is tightly banded with striations in shades of gray, brown, and red. “It records the evolution of the marsh, and the flora and fauna it has supported, in great detail. The upper, more recent, end is rich in plant debris covered with a drape of mud laid down by the high tide, a window on the process of extracting carbon.” An expert on marine sedimentology—the sea’s interaction with the sand, silt, and clay that lies around and underneath it—Ghinassi can read much of that history on sight, examining it more closely back at his university laboratory with advanced soil-analysis instruments. He has done fieldwork in Norway, Turkey, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Greece, Scotland, England, Spain, and the United States over the last 20 years—a resume exemplifying the worldwide character of problems now facing the marine environment. The Padova team has been evaluating the marshes’ health intensely for more than three years. Their conclusions are not encouraging. While the world justifiably worries about the fate of La Serenissima and its treasures, environmentalists warn that her mythic partner may already be approaching its death throes. Thanks mostly to heedless human interventions with the lagoon’s sediment flows, the vital salt marshes of the Venetian lagoon have shrunk to an expanse of just 16 square miles, barely one-sixth of their 100 square miles in the 17th century.How to degrade a salt marshIn the 1920s, Italian economic planners undertook a “modernizing” program that transformed the continental shore of the Venetian Lagoon into one of Italy’s most heavily industrialized regions. Scores of manufacturing plants and refineries were built. Deep channels were gouged through the lagoon bed to accommodate heavy freighters bound for the port of Marghera, just two miles west of La Serenissima’s main island, and more recently, huge 5,000-passenger cruise ships. The industrial facilities extracted immense amounts of groundwater from compressed sediment under the lagoon, causing Venice to subside 4.5 inches in the 20th century, at the same time Adriatic sea levels rose by four inches. Although the Italian government closed most of the wells in 1970, the subsidence is irreversible and slowly increasing.Put bluntly, environmentalists now fear that Moses’ efforts to save urban Venice from crumbling into the sea may complete the destruction of the very ecosystem that gave birth to the city and sustained it for 15 centuries.The chief threat, they say, endangers the crucial interaction of the marshes with tidal currents. The Padova team accumulated extensive data on the first 15 tests of the flood gates, focusing on San Felice and two other marshes between October 3, 2020, and the following winter. Their analysis suggests that the barriers could reduce the annual supply of sediment to the marsh plants by 25 percent, with potentially fatal effects on the future of the lagoon, since the sediment distributed by the tidal ebb and flow—the “sedimentary budget” —shores up the existing land and lagoonal banks. What’s more, notes Davide Tognin in a related study, 70 percent of the lagoon’s necessary sedimentation occurs during episodes of high winds—precisely when the barrier tends to be raised."It is clear that the defense of the city of Venice and of the inhabited centers from high waters is an indispensable issue, and not under discussion,” says D’Alpaos. “We don’t question this need.” Instead, researchers urge that the barriers be raised when the tide reaches a slightly higher level—4.3 feet rather than 3.6 feet, which they say would reduce the loss of sediment to an environmentally sustainable 10 percent.A final decision about activation levels has not yet been established, says commissioner Spitz. The purpose of its current testing regimen, she emphasizes, is arriving at the “optimal point” for raising the gates. The bottom line, however, is that “Venice is a very delicate city,” Spitz adds, a treasure trove of historic monuments, art, and culture. “It cannot risk another event like November 2019.”“Yes, there would still be flooding” at 4.3 feet, perhaps affecting up to half the city, D’Alpaos concedes. “But much of it could be controlled by complementary measures, such as a permanent storm drainage system at Piazza San Marco and raising pedestrian sidewalks in lower-lying areas.”After billions in public expenditures and decades of work on Moses, any compromise on its protection of Venice is certain to generate a harrowing political acqua alta. But compromising the fragile health of the marshlands invites yet another sort of catastrophe. “If Moses is used too often and raised for too many hours,” D’Alpaos flatly predicts, “the marshes will die.”La Serenissima surrounded by a stagnant, dead lagoon is unthinkable.Venice in the 21st century is an enchanted 1,500-year-old dream immersed in an apocalyptic contemporary nightmare. She is not alone in facing the dire challenge of rising sea levels and climate change, a recent Oceanography Society report observed. But thanks to her sheer fame, the authors added, the city is a maritime equivalent to “the canary in the coal mine,” whose determined efforts to meet existential crisis “may be the example that hastens the world to act.” | Climate Change |
Environmental protesters have glued themselves to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera, on display at an art gallery in Florence.The activists, from the climate activist group Ultima Generazione (Last Generation), said the protest was the first in “a new season of actions” targeting museums. It appeared inspired by Just Stop Oil activists in the UK who recently conducted a similar campaign of protests in art galleries.The group held up a banner reading “Ultima Generazione No Gas No Carbone (Last Generation, No Gas, No Coal),” and stuck themselves to the exhibit at the Uffizi gallery, after paying for tickets to get inside, according to Italian news agency Ansa. Police took away a man and two women, the agency said.No damage was caused to the painting, Ansa cited the museum as saying. Botticelli’s 650-year-old Primavera (meaning Spring) is one of the world’s most famous paintings. The Uffizi gallery’s website describes the painting as “a celebration of love, peace, and prosperity”.“Is it possible to see a spring as beautiful as this today?” Ultima Generazione said in a statement.“Fires, food crises and drought make it increasingly difficult. We decided to use art to sound an alarm call: we are heading towards social and eco-climate collapse”.Sign up to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BSTThe group said they had consulted with art restoration experts to find a way to glue themselves to the painting without damaging it. “In the same way that we defend our artistic heritage, we should be dedicated to the care and protection of the planet that we share with the rest of the world,” a statement on the group’s website said.Ultima Generazione has been taking action in Italy since December, with an initial set of actions blocking roads around Rome, Italy’s capital.It is one of a number of activist groups that have sprung up around Europe and in Canada and Australia inspired by the tactics of Insulate Britain, whose roadblock protests around London and south-east England caused massive disruption and spurred a national conversation about climate change and home insulation.Like Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil, Ultima Generazione have received funding from the US-based Climate Emergency Fund, a philanthropic fund set up to channel money to direct action groups. | Climate Change |
A new study from business and environmental researchers at Oxford University disputes the notion that a strategy to transition global power generation toward renewable energy and away from fossil fuels is too expensive to pursue.
The study, released Sept. 13 and published in the journal Joule, reports that decarbonizing the world’s energy systems would save at least $12 trillion by mid-century, compared to continuing to use fossil fuels at the current level. The peer-reviewed study notes that the cost of cleaner energy technology continues to fall. It also concludes that renewable energy has the potential to increase energy output worldwide, and expand access to energy to a larger population.
The study outlines a “Fast Transition” scenario, in which there is a “realistic possible future for a fossil-free energy system by around 2050, providing 55% more energy services globally than today, by ramping up solar, wind, batteries, electric vehicles, and clean fuels such as green hydrogen [made from renewable electricity].”
The Oxford group’s report was released the same day as the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE’s) report on the possibility of converting closed coal-fired power plants into homes for nuclear power. The DOE said hundreds of coal unit sites across the U.S. could be converted to nuclear power, which “would dramatically increase the supply of firm and dispatchable clean electricity to the grid and deliver huge gains to the nation’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.”
The DOE report said a coal-to-nuclear transition “could help increase nuclear capacity in the U.S. to more than 350 GW,” far outpacing the current nuclear power generation capacity of about 95 GW. Costs of Clean Energy Transition
Dr. Rupert Way, a postdoctoral researcher at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, and lead author of the Oxford study, said, “Past models predicting high costs for transitioning to zero carbon energy have deterred companies from investing, and made governments nervous about setting policies that will accelerate the energy transition and cut reliance on fossil fuels. But clean energy costs have fallen sharply over the last decade, much faster than those models expected.”
Way said, “Our latest research shows scaling-up key green technologies will continue to drive their costs down, and the faster we go, the more we will save. Accelerating the transition to renewable energy is now the best bet, not just for the planet, but for energy costs too.”
The researchers said they analyzed “thousands of transition cost scenarios produced by major energy models,” using data covering 45 years of solar energy costs, 37 years of wind energy costs, and 25 years for battery storage. The group said they found “the real cost of solar energy dropped twice as fast as the most ambitious projections in these models, revealing that over the last 20 years previous models badly overestimated the future costs of key clean energy technologies versus reality.”
Overcoming Misconceptions
Doyne Farmer, a professor who leads the team that conducted the study at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, said, “There is a pervasive misconception that switching to clean, green energy will be painful, costly and mean sacrifices for us all—but that’s just wrong. Renewable costs have been trending down for decades. They are already cheaper than fossil fuels in many situations, and our research shows they will become cheaper than fossil fuels across almost all applications in the years to come. And, if we accelerate the transition, they will become cheaper faster. Completely replacing fossil fuels with clean energy by 2050 will save us trillions.”
The researchers reported that costs for energy storage technologies, such as batteries, and hydrogen electrolysis are also likely to fall dramatically. Though the debate about the importance of nuclear power to combat climate change continues, the study said the cost of nuclear power has “consistently increased over the last five decades, making it highly unlikely to be cost competitive with plunging renewable and storage costs.”
“The world is facing a simultaneous inflation crisis, national security crisis, and climate crisis, all caused by our dependence on high cost, insecure, polluting, fossil fuels with volatile prices,” said Farmer. “This study shows ambitious policies to accelerate dramatically the transition to a clean energy future, as quickly as possible, are not only urgently needed for climate reasons, but can save the world trillions in future energy costs, giving us a cleaner, cheaper, more energy secure future.”
Rising Costs for Fossil Fuels
The researchers noted that the cost of fossil fuels, including coal and natural gas, have risen sharply since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has led to inflationary pressures worldwide. The Oxford study was conducted prior to that situation, and took into account more than 100 years of fossil fuel price data.
The group notes that the current energy crisis “underscores the study’s findings and demonstrates the risks of continuing to rely on expensive, insecure, fossil fuels. The research confirms that the response to the crisis should include accelerating the transition to low cost, clean energy as soon as possible, as this will bring benefits both for the economy and the planet.”
The report’s research is a collaboration among the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, the Oxford Martin Programme on the Post-Carbon Transition and the Smith School of Enterprise & Environment at the University of Oxford, and SoDa Labs at Monash University.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine). | Climate Change |
Rescued flood victims sit in a boat, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in village Arazi, in Sehwan, Pakistan, September 11, 2022. REUTERS/Yasir Rajput/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comDADU, Pakistan, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Authorities in Pakistan are scrambling to protect a vital power station supplying electricity to millions of people against a growing threat of flooding, officials said on Monday, taking steps such as building a dike in front of it.Floods from record monsoon rains and glacial melt in the mountainous north have affected 33 million people and killed almost 1,400, washing away homes, roads, railways, livestock and crops, in damages estimated at $30 billion.Both the government and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres have blamed climate change for the extreme weather that led to the flooding, which submerged nearly a third of the nation of 220 million. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe electricity station in the district of Dadu in the southern province of Sindh, one of the country's worst affected areas, supplies power to six provincial districts.Troops were busy strengthening a dike built in front of the station, a visit to the site showed on Sunday."All preventive measures have been taken already to save the grid in case any flooding happens," Syed Murtaza Ali Shah, a top district official, told Reuters on Monday.The comment followed orders from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reported by state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, to ensure the 500kV power station did not get flooded.U.N. agencies have begun work to assess the South Asian nation's reconstruction needs after it received 391 mm (15.4 inches) of rain, or nearly 190% more than the 30-year average, in July and August.Sindh received 466% more rain than average and all the flood waters pass through Dadu, a district with a population of 1.5 million, thanks to its location. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Syed Raza Hassan in Dadu; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
By Michael Martina and David BrunnstromWASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States released its first strategy for ties with Pacific island nations on Thursday, the second day of a summit with leaders from the region, pledging to help them fight climate change and rebuff what it called China's "economic coercion."As President Joe Biden prepared to meet more than a dozen leaders and representatives in Washington, the strategy paper said his administration was making engaging more deeply with their countries a foreign policy priority."U.S. prosperity and security depend on the Pacific region remaining free and open," it said, noting that Pacific island countries faced urgent challenges, most notably from the climate crisis, but also heightened geopolitical tensions."Increasingly, those impacts include pressure and economic coercion by the People's Republic of China, which risks undermining the peace, prosperity, and security of the region, and by extension, of the United States," it said.China says its ties with Pacific island countries are based on mutual cooperation, that the region is not the backyard of any country, and that Washington's attempts to stir up opposition to China there will fail.Leaders and representatives from 14 Pacific island states are taking part. Their itinerary includes lunch at Congress, an afternoon meeting with Biden and a White House dinner.Biden's administration has pledged "big-dollar" assistance to address climate, health and maritime security issues, and to boost communications links with U.S. partners like Japan, Australia and India.A senior administration official said the United States would invest more than $810 million in expanded programs to aid the islands, on top of over $1.5 billion provided in the past decade.That figure included a previously announced 10-year $600 million economic assistance agreement request to Congress to build climate resilience and maritime security for the island states, according to an administration fact sheet.Patricia O'Brien, a Pacific islands expert at Washington's Georgetown University, said: "It sounds a lot, but when it's divided up across so many government areas, nations and territories it doesn't look so substantial," she said.Washington also plans to begin talks soon with Papua New Guinea on a defense cooperation agreement, the White House fact sheet said.It had agreed too to provide $2.8 million to step up FBI training with Pacific islands, including in 2022 with the Solomon Islands, which drew scrutiny earlier this year for signing a security deal with China.That deal included provisions for Chinese police to help maintain social order and fueled concerns among the United States and its allies of Chinese militarization of the region.An unsigned draft of a summit declaration seen by Reuters said the leaders resolved to strengthen their partnership and shared a vision for the region where "democracy will be able to flourish."It also said the United States remained committed to addressing the Marshall Islands' environmental and health concerns, without specifically linking them to massive U.S. nuclear testing there in the 1940s and '50s. It did though say generally that "We, too, acknowledge the nuclear legacy of the Cold War."Sources told Reuters earlier that the State Department had objected to explicit reference to the Marshall Islands nuclear issue when negotiating the declaration with island countries earlier in the week.It remains a sticking point in ongoing U.S. talks with the Marshall Islands to renew economic assistance to the country which houses crucial U.S. military facilities, though Washington has committed to trying to reach a deal by year-end.BATTLE FOR INFLUENCEThe summit marks the first time the United States has hosted so many leaders of a region it has considered it maritime backyard since World War Two, but into which China made steady advances.Some of the nations have complained about being caught in the middle of the superpowers' battle for influence.The U.S. strategy document said the region faced challenges to sovereignty, and added that the United States would help ensure Pacific governments and people "have the autonomy and security to advance their own interests."As part of the plan, the United States would increase its regional diplomatic and defense presence, seek to help counter marine pollution, illegal fishing, drug trafficking, and seaport security, collaborate with partners on submarine cable upgrades, and promote "secure and trusted" telecommunications partnerships.That would include returning U.S. Peace Corps volunteers to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu this year and exploring missions in other countries, it said.Washington this year vowed to open three new embassies in the region - in Kiribati, Tonga and the Solomon Islands.Derek Grossman, an Indo-Pacific analyst at the RAND Corporation, said Washington had let ties with the region languish for decades, but that had begun to change in recent years and the summit was a sign of that."We are still all working from, generally speaking, the same sheet of music, which is we don't want the Chinese establishing a military foothold in the region, and we don't want them, corrupting the institutions of the region," he said.(Reporting by Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Howard Goller) | Climate Change |
Topline
As high-temperature records fall across the United States and the globe in a series of summer heat waves, a new Gallup report found environmental concerns vary widely along the partisan divide, with older Republicans less concerned than they’ve been in two decades, while a vast majority of Democrats and Independents are concerned at least a fair amount. A Gallup report found political party is a greater differentiator than age in Americans' views on ... [+] the environment, as the country faces a series of heat waves. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) Getty Images Key Facts Older Republicans were least concerned with the environment, with 46% of Republicans 55 and older, and 52% ages 35 to 54 concerned “a great deal” or “a fair amount,” according to the report, which was based on data collected between 2019 and 2022. 23% of Republicans 55 and older believe climate change will never happen, while 35% say it will happen, but not in their lifetime and 29% believe it’s already begun, compared to 78% of Democrats 55 and older. Concern among Republicans ages 18 to 34 was significantly greater, with 69% saying they were concerned at least a fair amount, compared to nearly 90% of Democrats across all age groups, including 64% that said they were worried a great deal. Only 14% of Republicans 55 and older are concerned “a great deal” (down from 23% between 2006 and 2010) about the environment, compared to 32% of Republicans ages 18 to 34. Concern among Independents has been steadily increasing since 2001, with moderate variation between age groups, as 83% of people ages 18 to 34 said they were concerned at least a fair amount, compared to 72% of people 35 to 54 and 68% of people 55 and older. Gallup’s report comes days after more than 85 million Americans faced excessive heat warnings, as an “extremely oppressive” heat wave left red and blue states across the South, Midwest and Northeast sweltering in temperatures. Tangent
Last month, the Supreme Court voted along ideological lines to curb the EPA’s regulatory authority around greenhouse gas emissions, ruling in favor of a group of Republican-led states and fossil fuel companies that argued the agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act. The decision jeopardized the Biden administration’s climate goal of a 50% to 52% reduction in economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, from 2005 levels.
Crucial Quote
“As President, I have a responsibility to act with urgency and resolve when our nation faces clear and present danger, and that’s what climate change is about,” President Joe Biden said last week at a press conference in Massachusetts. “It is literally, not figuratively, a clear and present danger. The health of our citizens and our communities is literally at stake.” Further Reading
Week Of Heat: These Major Temperature Records Were Shattered In Scorching Heat Waves (Forbes)
Sunday Heat Wave Scorches These U.S. Cities From St. Louis To New York (Forbes)
Supreme Court Curbs EPA’s Power To Regulate Emissions And Fight Climate Change (Forbes) | Climate Change |
World Sep 7, 2022 10:53 AM EDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian chief predicted Tuesday that at least $1 billion will be needed urgently to avert famine in Somalia in the coming months and early next year when two more dry seasons are expected to compound the historic drought that has hit the Horn of Africa nation.
READ MORE: First ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa amid global hunger crisis
Martin Griffiths said in a video briefing from Somalia’s capital Mogadishu that a new report from an authoritative panel of independent experts says there will be a famine in Somalia between October and December “if we don’t manage to stave it off and avoid it as had been the case in 2016 and 2017.”
The undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs told U.N. correspondents that more than $1 billion in new funds is needed in addition to the U.N. appeal of about $1.4 billion. That appeal has been “very well-funded,” he said, thanks to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which announced a $476 million donation of humanitarian and development aid in July.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, created by USAID, said in a report Monday that famine is projected to emerge later this year in three areas in Somalia’s southeastern Bay region, including Baidoa without urgent humanitarian aid.
Up to 7.1 million people across Somalia need urgent assistance to treat and prevent acute malnutrition and reduce the number of ongoing hunger-related deaths, according to a recent analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification or IPC, used by the network to describe the severity of food insecurity.
The Horn of Africa region has seen four straight failed rainy seasons for the first time in over half a century, endangering an estimated 20 million people in one of the world’s most impoverished and turbulent regions.
Griffiths said meteorologists have predicted the likelihood of a fifth failed rainy season from October to December, and a sixth failed rainy season from January to March next year is also likely.
“This has never happened before in Somalia,” he said. “This is unprecedented.”
“We’ve been banging the drum and rattling the trees trying to get support internationally in terms of attention, prospects, and the possibilities and the horror of famine coming to the Horn of Africa – here in Somalia maybe first, but Ethiopia and Kenya, probably they’re not far behind,” Griffiths said.
He said the U.N. World Food Program has recently been providing aid for up to 5.3 million Somalis, which is “a lot, but it’s going to get worse if famine comes.” He said 98 percent of the aid is given through cash distributions via telephones.
But many thousands are not getting help and hungry families in Somalia have been staggering for days or weeks through parched terrain in search of assistance.
Griffiths said a big challenge is to get aid to people before they move from their homes, to help avoid massive displacement.
Many Somalis raise livestock, which is key to their survival, but he said three million animals have died or been slaughtered because of the lack of rain.
“Continued drought, continued failure of rainy seasons, means that a generation’s way of life is under threat,” Griffiths said.
He said the international community needs to help Somalis find an alternative way of life and making a living, which will require development funding and funding to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Griffiths, a British diplomat, said the war in Ukraine has had an impact on humanitarian aid, with U.N. humanitarian appeals around the world receiving about 30 percent of the money needed on average.
“To those countries, which are traditionally very generous, my own included, and many others,” he said. “Please don’t forget Somalia. You didn’t in the past. You contributed wonderfully in the past. Please do so now.” Left: Internally displaced Somali children ride on a donkey cart as they flee from the severe droughts, near Dollow, Gedo Region, Somalia May 26, 2022. Picture taken May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar | Climate Change |
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryTemperature hits record 40C across countryTrain services cancelled due to the heatHeatwave prompts focus on climate change promisesLONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - Britain recorded its hottest day ever on Tuesday, with the temperature exceeding 40C (104F) as a heatwave gripping Europe intensified, forcing train tracks to buckle and fuelling a spate of fires across London.The Met Office said a new provisional record temperature of 40.3C (104.5F) was recorded in Coningsby, in central England, with 34 sites across the country experiencing temperatures in excess of the previous high of 38.7C (101.7F) recorded in 2019.Stephen Belcher at the Met Office said he had not expected to see such temperatures in Britain in his career.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"Research conducted here at the Met Office has demonstrated that it's virtually impossible for the UK to experience 40C in an undisrupted climate but climate change driven by greenhouse gases has made these extreme temperatures possible," he said.Train services on major routes from London up the east and west coast of the country were cancelled, electricity companies reported mass outages and normally busy city centres appeared quiet. Network Rail tweeted a number of pictures showing large bends and kinks in rail tracks.London Fire Brigade declared a major incident and urged people to stop having barbecues, as hundreds of firefighters battled blazes across the capital.To the east, a large fire engulfed homes in the village of Wennington, with flames tearing across about 40 hectares (100 acres) of neighbouring tinder-dry fields. Elsewhere large grassland areas around the capital caught fire, billowing smoke over major roads and nearby areas.London's Ambulance Service said it had been dealing with 400 calls an hour because of the extreme heat."We are seeing an increase in the number of patients experiencing heat exposure, breathing difficulties, dizziness and fainting," said Peter Rhodes, the deputy director of ambulance operations.Britain, which can struggle to maintain key transport services in extreme heat or snow, had been put on a state of national emergency over the unprecedented temperatures.A fire burns during a heatwave, in Rainham, east London, Britain, July 19, 2022. REUTERS/Tony O'Brien"My thanks go to all the firefighters and frontline services who are working incredibly hard to keep us safe on this scorching day," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter.'DO NOT TRAVEL'Transport minister Grant Shapps said there had been a considerable amount of travel disruption."Infrastructure, much of which was built from the Victorian times, just wasn't built to withstand this type of temperature," he said.Operator Network Rail advised passengers to only travel if absolutely necessary."Extreme Heat: All services stopped. Do not come to the station," Avanti West Coast, which runs services from London to cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, said on Twitter.Climate scientists said the once-unthinkable temperature in London was likely to become more common in coming years.Sony Kapoor, a climate and macro-economic professor at European University Institute, said he had long thought that people underestimated the physical impacts of climate change in contemporary times. "But even I never thought we would see 40 degree Celsius in London in 2022," he said.The arrival of a searing heatwave that first sparked wildfires across Europe before arriving in Britain has turned the spotlight on to "net zero" pledges made by the candidates running to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister.After Johnson championed the move to net zero status when Britain held the United Nations COP26 climate change summit in 2021, some of the candidates to replace him have appeared more lukewarm and rated other challenges facing the country as their priority.After Tuesday's heat, the Met Office said the temperature would fall on Wednesday, however it warned there could be heavy thunderstorms.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAdditional reporting by Gloria Dickie; Writing by Kate Holton, William James and Michael Holden; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Catherine Evans, Raissa Kasolowsky and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Climate Change |
Workman with Power Shift Solar put solar panels on a house Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Salt Lake City. Congress is poised to pass a transformative climate change bill on Friday, Aug. 12. The crux of the long-delayed bill is to use incentives to accelerate the expansion of clean energy such as wind and solar power, speeding the transition away from the oil, coal and gas that largely cause climate change. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) You and every American were essentially just given an electric bank account to swap out your aging fossil-fueled machines for new, clean electric ones. These funds good for a decade, contains thousands of dollars and basically renews every year. These are the provisions in a new law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), that directly benefit you and other Americans. Beyond these benefits, you get a bonus: You save money every year by locking in the lower energy bill prices that come from going electric. Plus, this new law comes with a pretty decent perk: It is one of the most effective ways to address the climate crisis. This is why we need every household in America to know about the perks of the new law and how to use them. In fact, 42 percent of energy-related emissions in the U.S. come from decisions we make around the kitchen table: the cars we drive, how we heat our air and water, cook our food and dry our clothes and where we get the energy to power all of these machines. There are 1 billion machines across 121 million households that need to be replaced or installed as electric over the next two decades. There is simply no path for us to stay inside of 1.5 degrees Celsius warming (to avoid the worst impact of climate change) unless we do so. President Biden is celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act on Tuesday for good reason. The new law puts all of us at the center of U.S. climate policy and recognizes that electrifying our lives is not just a good deal for the planet, but for our pocketbooks. Households that go electric save an average $1,800 a year per household — every year. That is incredibly important in a country where 49 percent of Americans don’t have $400 in emergency savings. Going electric also protects us from the inflationary shocks that come from megalomaniac dictators and profit-thirsty fossil fuel corporations because we no longer have to rely on them to power our lives. The Inflation Reduction Act will offer roughly $100 billion in benefits to Americans through a combination of The Inflation Reduction Act will offer as much as $858 billion in benefits to Americans through a combination of rebates, tax credits and low-cost financing — if we maximize its full electric potential. This will offer up a well of money for Americans to draw upon as they replace their aging machines with new, clean electric ones. It represents what will be the largest wealth transfer from energy producers to American households in history — but only if we make it so. That’s because the key thing about these benefits is that if you don’t spend this free money, you lose it — and worse, life gets more expensive. How? Let’s say I have a fossil fuel-powered furnace, and it conks out next year. I could access some tax credit dollars to get a heat pump. If I didn’t know that was an option, however, I might instead replace my gas furnace with another gas furnace. But because those machines last for approximately 15 years, I would then lose the money offered by the new law designated for a heat pump, because the Inflation Reduction Act spending window is currently 10 years, and it would not make a ton of sense for me to go out and replace a machine I just bought. Instead of reaping the benefits of a cleaner, cheaper, more efficient and better machine, I’d also have to pay for a fossil-fueled appliance that is only going to cost more over that same window of time, as economies begin to price in the increasingly untenable costs of a gas-powered world. So, how do we make sure Americans don’t miss out? We need to make this policy come alive in our collective hearts and minds. The idea of going electric is new for many. Only one-quarter of Americans report being familiar with heat pumps. This means at most one-quarter of Americans know that a heat pump is the best, and now most affordable, choice for heating or cooling, regardless of where you live in this country. Americans need to plan to electrify, to get “rewiring ready” — upgrading their panels and wiring as necessary — and the Inflation Reduction Act helps them do this. My organization, Rewiring America, built a calculator to help people understand the funds available to them, and to start thinking about what they’ll do to maximize the benefits. The powerful thing about these new benefits is that the money gets more valuable over time. Because as more households go electric, the cost of these electric machines will come down, while the value of the rebates and other incentives remains constant. Year after year, our buying power will just get stronger. These new benefits give Americans a chance to play their part in a turnaround tale for our communities, country and planet. Electrifying your home is the contemporary victory garden — a thing you can do to free America from fossil-fueled dependence, a way to contribute to bringing our emissions down and an opportunity to help build out American supply chains and encourage the creation of good-paying jobs here at home. But the critical thing to understand about the Inflation Reduction Act is that it is a statement of potential, not a guaranteed outcome. Its success depends on people accessing these benefits. If they don’t, less will be spent on electrification and the resulting emission reductions, household and community savings and benefits will be lower. Conversely, there is almost no cap on the amount of money that can be accessed through these new benefits. If the United States successfully ramps up to 100 percent electric adoption by the end of the IRA, this $858 billion in residential electrification benefits will have been invested across every community in the country, saving more money for families as a result. The Inflation Reduction Act is the largest climate investment in our nation’s history, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tackle affordability and the climate crisis, as well as rewrite the story from here on out. If Americans knew they had thousands of dollars to spend toward making their homes cheaper to run, healthier to inhabit and more comfortable, they’d use that money. It’s up to those of us that know to tell them. Ari Matusiak is the co-founder and CEO of Rewiring America, co-founder of Purpose Venture Group and a former special assistant to President Obama and the administration’s director of private sector engagement. | Climate Change |
New California laws will create 4 million jobs, reduce the state’s oil use by 91%, cut air pollution by 60%, protect communities from oil drilling, and accelerate the state’s transition to clean energy
Legislative package complements record $54 billion climate budget that focuses on equity and economic opportunity
MARE ISLAND – Today, California enacted some of the nation’s most aggressive climate measures in history as Governor Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of legislation to cut pollution, protect Californians from big polluters, and accelerate the state’s transition to clean energy. The Governor partnered with legislative leaders this session to advance groundbreaking measures to achieve carbon neutrality no later than 2045 and 90% clean energy by 2035, establish new setback measures protecting communities from oil drilling, capture carbon pollution from the air, advance nature-based solutions, and more.
This is an essential piece of the California Climate Commitment, a record $54 billion investment in climate action that exceeds what most countries are spending and advances economic opportunity and environmental justice in communities across the state.
Over the next two decades, the California Climate Commitment will: Create 4 million new jobs
Cut air pollution by 60%
Reduce state oil consumption by 91%
Save California $23 billion by avoiding the damages of pollution
Reduce fossil fuel use in buildings and transportation by 92%
Cut refinery pollution by 94% Taken together, these measures represent the most significant action on the climate crisis in California’s history and raises the bar for governments around the world.
“This month has been a wake-up call for all of us that later is too late to act on climate change. California isn’t waiting any more,” said Governor Newsom. “Together with the Legislature, California is taking the most aggressive action on climate our nation has ever seen. We’re cleaning the air we breathe, holding the big polluters accountable, and ushering in a new era for clean energy. That’s climate action done the California Way – and we’re not only doubling down, we’re just getting started.”
In Vallejo, Governor Newsom signs sweeping climate measures into law
With multiple oil refineries in the distance, the Governor signed the legislation alongside legislative leaders at the USDA Forest Service Regional Office on Mare Island, a facility powered by clean energy that also feeds the grid.
“Our state has been facing extreme temperatures, putting our communities, especially our most vulnerable neighbors, at risk. We’re also continuing to deal with an historic drought and the ongoing threat of wildfires. The challenges of climate change are here, and this Legislative session, we took bold action to address these severe conditions and mitigate future risk both through our state budget and key legislation,” said Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego). “We established ambitious and necessary goals to reduce carbon emission and increase renewable energy. We provided the tools industry needs to capture and store carbon before it hits the atmosphere. And we invested in critical infrastructure programs that will keep us firmly planted on the path to a greener future, while simultaneously creating jobs that will support families across the state. California has, and will continue to, lead the nation on not only addressing the worsening climate crisis, but finding proactive solutions.”
“It’s great to see California and the Governor celebrating our collective dedication to climate response. The Assembly has initiated this kind of legislation for years, and put forward some of these bills more than a year ago,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood). “That makes it especially heartening to be able to enact a package like this as a team. I look forward to working on additional climate change legislation with the Governor and the Senate. We are just getting started.”
The climate package signed today includes: CARBON NEUTRALITY: AB 1279 by Assemlymembers Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) and Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) codifies the statewide carbon neutrality goal to dramatically reduce climate pollution. Establishes a clear, legally binding, and achievable goal for California to achieve statewide carbon neutrality as soon as possible, and no later than 2045, and establishes an 85% emissions reduction target as part of that goal. PROTECT COMMUNITIES AGAINST OIL DRILLING: SB 1137 by Senators Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) protects communities from the harmful impacts of the oil industry. Establishes a setback distance of 3,200 feet between any new oil well and homes, schools, parks or businesses open to the public.
Ensures comprehensive pollution controls for existing oil wells within 3,200 feet of these facilities. 100% CLEAN ELECTRIC GRID: SB 1020 by Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) establishes a pathway toward the state’s clean energy future. Creates clean electricity targets of 90% by 2035 and 95% by 2040 with the intent of advancing the state’s trajectory to the existing 100% clean electricity retail sales by 2045 goal. CAPTURING AND REMOVING CARBON POLLUTION: SB 905 by Senators Anna Caballero (D-Merced) and Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and SB 1314 by Senator Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) advance engineered technologies to remove carbon pollution, while banning the use of those technologies for enhanced oil recovery. Establishes a clear regulatory framework for carbon removal and carbon capture, utilization and sequestration.
Bans the practice of injecting carbon dioxide for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery. NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS: AB 1757 by Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) enlists nature in the state’s climate agenda. Requires the state to develop an achievable carbon removal target for natural and working lands. Last week, Governor Newsom signed legislation to help protect Californians from more frequent and severe heat waves driven by climate change. This month’s legislative action comes on the heels of California enacting a world-leading regulation to phase out sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
In a July letter to the Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), Governor Newsom called for the state to ensure that the 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan provides a path to achieve both the 2030 climate goal and state carbon neutrality no later than 2045, requesting that the final plan incorporate new efforts to advance offshore wind, clean fuels, climate-friendly homes, carbon removal and address methane leaks.
The full set of bills the Governor signed that work toward achieving the state’s climate goals include: AB 1279 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) – The California Climate Crisis Act.
AB 1384 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) – Resiliency Through Adaptation, Economic Vitality, and Equity Act of 2022.
AB 1389 by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) – Clean Transportation Program: project funding preferences.
AB 1749 by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) – Community emissions reduction programs: toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants.
AB 1757 by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) – California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: climate goal: natural and working lands.
AB 1857 by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) – Solid waste.
AB 1909 by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) – Vehicles: bicycle omnibus bill.
AB 1985 by Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) – Organic waste: recovered organic waste product procurement targets.
AB 2061 by Assemblymember Philip Ting (D-San Francisco) – Transportation electrification: electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
AB 2075 by Assemblymember Philip Ting (D-San Francisco) – Energy: electric vehicle charging standards.
AB 2108 by Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) – Water policy: environmental justice: disadvantaged and tribal communities.
AB 2204 by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas) – Clean energy: Labor and Workforce Development Agency: Deputy Secretary for Climate.
AB 2278 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) – Natural resources: biodiversity and conservation report.
AB 2316 by Assemblymember Christopher Ward (D-San Diego) – Public Utilities Commission: customer renewable energy subscription programs and the community renewable energy program.
AB 2440 by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) – Responsible Battery Recycling Act of 2022.
AB 2446 by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) – Embodied carbon emissions: construction materials.
AB 2622 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Sales and use taxes: exemptions: California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project: transit buses.
AB 2700 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) – Transportation electrification: electrical distribution grid upgrades.
AB 2836 by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) – Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program: vehicle registration fees: California tire fee.
SB 379 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) – Residential solar energy systems: permitting.
SB 529 by Senator Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) – Electricity: electrical transmission facilities.
SB 887 by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) – Electricity: transmission facility planning.
SB 905 by Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced) – Carbon sequestration: Carbon Capture, Removal, Utilization, and Storage Program.
SB 1010 by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) – Air pollution: state vehicle fleet.
SB 1020 by Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) – Clean Energy, Jobs, and Affordability Act of 2022.
SB 1063 by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) – Energy: appliance standards and cost-effective measures.
SB 1075 by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) – Hydrogen: green hydrogen: emissions of greenhouse gases.
SB 1109 by Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced) – California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program: bioenergy projects.
SB 1137 by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) – Oil and gas: operations: location restrictions: notice of intention: health protection zone: sensitive receptors.
SB 1145 by Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) – California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: greenhouse gas emissions: dashboard.
SB 1158 by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) – Retail electricity suppliers: emissions of greenhouse gases.
SB 1203 by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) – Net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases: state agency operations.
SB 1205 by Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) – Water rights: appropriation.
SB 1215 by Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) – Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003: covered battery-embedded products.
SB 1230 by Senator Monique Limόn (D-Santa Barbara) – Zero-emission and near-zero-emission vehicle incentive programs: requirements.
SB 1251 by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) – Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development: Zero-Emission Vehicle Market Development Office: Zero-Emission Vehicle Equity Advocate.
SB 1291 by Senator Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera) – Hydrogen-fueling stations: administrative approval.
SB 1314 by Senator Monique Limόn (D-Santa Barbara) – Oil and gas: Class II injection wells: enhanced oil recovery.
SB 1322 by Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) – Energy: petroleum pricing.
SB 1382 by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) – Air pollution: Clean Cars 4 All Program: Sales and Use Tax Law: zero emissions vehicle exemption. Governor Newsom previously signed: AB 2251 by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier) – Urban forestry: statewide strategic plan.
SB 1174 by Senator Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) – Electricity: eligible renewable energy or energy storage resources: transmission and interconnection. For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
### | Climate Change |
CNN — Two climate activists with Extinction Rebellion were arrested Sunday after gluing themselves to a Picasso painting at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. The activists glued themselves to the glass covering of “Picasso’s Massacre in Korea,” standing alongside a banner that read “Climate Chaos = War and Famine,” highlighting the connection between climate breakdown and human suffering, the organization said on Twitter. “‘If we continue on our current path, we will face the collapse of everything that gives us our security,’ leading to conflict,” the group said, quoting naturalist and TV host David Attenborough. Victoria police said they believe the protesters entered the ground level of the gallery before a man and woman glued themselves to the covering at around 12:40 p.m. local time. The 49-year-old woman from the state of New South Wales and a 59-year-old man from the Melbourne suburbs were removed from the painting just after 2 p.m. The two were arrested, as well as a 49-year-old man, according to Victoria police. Extinction Rebellion said no art was harmed in the incident. Climate change is on course to transform life on Earth as we know it, and unless global warming is dramatically slowed, billions of people and other species will reach points where they can no longer adapt to the new normal, according to a major UN-backed report released this year. Based on years of research from hundreds of scientists, the report found that the impacts from human-caused climate change were larger than previously thought, with the report’s authors warning these impacts are happening much faster and are more disruptive and widespread than scientists expected 20 years ago. Those who contribute the least to the problem are the worst affected, experts added in the report. Rachel Ramirez contributed reporting. | Climate Change |
Patagonia's founder is transferring ownership of the company after nearly 50 years into two entities that will help fight the climate crisis.Related video above: How climate bill pushes Americans to go greenPatagonia is a private company based in Ventura, California, that sells outdoor apparel and equipment. Yvon Chouinard founded the company in 1973.Patagonia said in a press release on Wednesday that, effective immediately, Chouinard and his family will transfer their entire ownership stake into two newly created entities. Those entities will ensure that the company's values will continue to be upheld — and that Patagonia's profits are used to combat climate change."If we have any hope of a thriving planet 50 years from now, it demands all of us doing all we can with the resources we have," Chouinard said in a statement Wednesday. "Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source."The biggest share of the company — or 98% of Patagonia's stock — will now be under the Holdfast Collective. This nonprofit will make sure that the company's annual profits, about $100 million per year, will be used to "protect nature and biodiversity, support thriving communities and fight the environmental crisis."The rest of the company's stock will fund the newly created Patagonia Purpose Trust.This trust will create a permanent legal structure so that the company can never deviate from Chouinard's vision: That a for-profit business can work for the planet."Two years ago, the Chouinard family challenged a few of us to develop a new structure with two central goals," said Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert in the press release. "They wanted us to both protect the purpose of the business and immediately and perpetually release more funding to fight the environmental crisis. We believe this new structure delivers on both and we hope it will inspire a new way of doing business that puts people and planet first."Patagonia has long been known as a conservationist company and has been outspoken on hot-button issues outside of its stores over the years. Patagonia's corporate activism is a large part of its brand identity.In 2017, the company sued then-President Donald Trump over his administration's move to dramatically shrink two national monuments in Utah."The president stole your land," Patagonia's website said at the time. "This is the largest elimination of protected land in American history."The company emerged as one of the most vocal corporate opponents of Trump's environmental policies.Last year, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert called for companies to join the brand in pressuring Facebook to fix its platforms and the company donated $1 million to voting rights groups in Georgia. Patagonia's founder is transferring ownership of the company after nearly 50 years into two entities that will help fight the climate crisis.Related video above: How climate bill pushes Americans to go green Patagonia is a private company based in Ventura, California, that sells outdoor apparel and equipment. Yvon Chouinard founded the company in 1973.Patagonia said in a press release on Wednesday that, effective immediately, Chouinard and his family will transfer their entire ownership stake into two newly created entities. Those entities will ensure that the company's values will continue to be upheld — and that Patagonia's profits are used to combat climate change."If we have any hope of a thriving planet 50 years from now, it demands all of us doing all we can with the resources we have," Chouinard said in a statement Wednesday. "Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source."The biggest share of the company — or 98% of Patagonia's stock — will now be under the Holdfast Collective. This nonprofit will make sure that the company's annual profits, about $100 million per year, will be used to "protect nature and biodiversity, support thriving communities and fight the environmental crisis." The rest of the company's stock will fund the newly created Patagonia Purpose Trust. This trust will create a permanent legal structure so that the company can never deviate from Chouinard's vision: That a for-profit business can work for the planet."Two years ago, the Chouinard family challenged a few of us to develop a new structure with two central goals," said Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert in the press release. "They wanted us to both protect the purpose of the business and immediately and perpetually release more funding to fight the environmental crisis. We believe this new structure delivers on both and we hope it will inspire a new way of doing business that puts people and planet first."Patagonia has long been known as a conservationist company and has been outspoken on hot-button issues outside of its stores over the years. Patagonia's corporate activism is a large part of its brand identity.In 2017, the company sued then-President Donald Trump over his administration's move to dramatically shrink two national monuments in Utah."The president stole your land," Patagonia's website said at the time. "This is the largest elimination of protected land in American history."The company emerged as one of the most vocal corporate opponents of Trump's environmental policies.Last year, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert called for companies to join the brand in pressuring Facebook to fix its platforms and the company donated $1 million to voting rights groups in Georgia. | Climate Change |
Chris Bowen has revealed why he refuses to read his Twitter feed as he announces an “energy revolution” is needed to achieve the government’s climate goals.Energy Minister Chris Bowen has revealed that he doesn’t read his Twitter feed because it’s bad for his mental health due to hotly contested views on climate change.Since winning the Federal Election in May, the Albanese government has embarked on an ambitious legislative agenda to address climate change which was part of its campaign promise.Mr Bowen was speaking at the AFR Energy and Climate Summit in Sydney when he made the comments about the popular social media site which is often the host of heated political debates between users.Stream more Australian news with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022"I don't read my Twitter feed. I don't recommend it because it's not good for my mental health," he said."50 per cent of it is saying there's no climate emergency and it's all a fraud and a hoax and the other 50 per cent says you're a sellout because you're not going fast enough."And that's just the world we live in. That's okay. We are just getting on with it."During his speech at the summit, Mr Bowen highlighted the Albanese Government’s achievements that were relevant to his portfolio.“In the first 26 days, the Prime Minister and I formalised Australia’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions - under the Paris Agreement – our 2030 target,” he said.“In 109 days, we passed the Climate Change Act, enshrining this target in legislation.“I’m pleased, but not satisfied. Not satisfied, because we have a huge amount of work still to do.”In September the government’s landmark climate bill cleared the Senate 37 to 26 votes after passing the House of Representatives in July.It aims to enshrine a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050 into law, while establishing formal review processes from the Climate Change Authority.Mr Bowen argued the need for an “energy revolution” to continue to achieve the government’s goals.“Achieving our climate change targets will require an energy revolution,” he said.“An energy revolution that we are engineering at the same time as the ramifications of the previous government’s lack of planning an investment and international energy crisis are being made very clear.”The government is also targeting 82 per cent renewables in Australia’s electricity grid by 2030.“Make no mistake, renewables aren’t just important to cut emissions, they are important to ensuring Australians have secure, reliable energy supply,” he said.The Climate Change Bill will return to the House of Representatives to have amendments voted on, which are expected to again pass.In the wake of the Federal Election, shadow climate and energy minister Ted O’Brien confirmed the opposition would also increase its 2030 emissions reduction target beyond the current 26 to 28 per cent goal. | Climate Change |
By Tiffanie TurnbullBBC News, SydneyImage source, Australian Institute of Marine ScienceImage caption, A diver being towed by a boat conducts a survey of the Great Barrier ReefCoral has recovered from storms and bleaching events to record levels across much of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, a survey has found.The reef's northern and central parts have the highest amount of coral cover since monitoring began 36 years ago. But coral cover in the southern part of the reef has decreased.The new coral is particularly vulnerable - meaning the progress could be quickly undone by climate change and other threats, officials say.Each year the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims) scans the reef to check its health - using divers slowly towed by a boat, as well as aerial surveys.After the fourth mass bleaching in six years was confirmed in March, Aims had grave concerns ahead of this year's study."In our 36 years of monitoring the condition of the Great Barrier Reef we have not seen bleaching events so close together," said chief executive Paul Hardisty.Bleaching occurs when corals stressed by warm water temperatures expel the algae living within them that gives them colour and life.Only two mass bleaching events had ever been recorded before 2016.This year's bleaching event was the first to occur during a La Niña, a weather phenomenon which typically brings cooler water temperatures.These latest results demonstrate the reef can recover if conditions allow, Dr Hardisty says, but "acute and severe disturbances" are becoming more frequent and longer.The reef has also been damaged by coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish and tropical cyclones which generate damaging waves.Much of the new coral growth - a species called Acropora - is especially exposed to the reef's threats, said Dr Mike Emslie from Aims. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The crown-of-thorns starfish is largely responsible for the decrease in coral recorded on the southern reefThe Great Barrier Reef has been World Heritage-listed for 40 years due to its "enormous scientific and intrinsic importance" as one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world.The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which manages the reef, says the outlook for the icon is "very poor" due to climate change.Unesco, the UN's scientific and cultural body, says not enough is being done to protect the reef. You may also be interested in:Media caption, Volunteer divers take snaps of the reef for online analysis. | Climate Change |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are less concerned now about how climate change might impact them personally — and about how their personal choices affect the climate — than they were three years ago, a new poll shows, even as a wide majority still believe climate change is happening.
The June Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, which was conducted before Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday, shows majorities of U.S. adults think the government and corporations have a significant responsibility to address climate change. The new law will invest nearly $375 billion in climate strategies over the next decade.
Overall, 35 percent of U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the impact of climate change on them personally, down from 44 percent in August 2019. Another third say they are somewhat concerned. Only about half say their actions have an effect on climate change, compared with two-thirds in 2019.
Black and Hispanic Americans, women and Democrats are especially likely to be strongly concerned about the impact of climate change on them personally and about how their personal choices affect the climate.
Many climate scientists told The Associated Press that the shifts are concerning but not surprising given that individuals are feeling overwhelmed by a range of issues, now including an economy plagued by inflation after more than two years of a pandemic. In addition to being outpaced by other issues, climate change or the environment are mentioned as priorities by fewer Americans now than just a few years ago, according to the poll.
READ MORE: Climate change is already fueling global migration. The world isn’t ready to meet people’s changing needs, experts say
Diane Panicucci in West Warwick, Rhode Island, believes climate change is happening and that it needs to be addressed. But for her, it’s a lower priority compared with other issues, including inflation and food and drug costs.
“There’s so much unrest in this country right now,” the 62-year-old said. “People are suffering.”
Panicucci added solar panels to her house, and she’s cut back on driving. She thinks individuals should do what they’re told will help, but “it doesn’t start with little ol’ me. It has to be larger scale,” she said.
While the climate crisis will require an “all of the above approach,” it’s “reasonable” that individuals don’t feel they have the bandwidth to tackle climate action “on top of everything else,” said Kim Cobb, director of the Institute at Brown University for Environment and Society.
Roughly two-thirds of Americans say the U.S. federal government, developed countries abroad and corporations and industries have a large responsibility to address climate change. Fewer — 45 percent — say that of individual people.
Jack Hermanson, a 23-year-old software engineer, feels strongly that corporations are the “major culprits” of emissions and that the government is complicit in that behavior.
“I don’t know if that makes sense to say that individuals should have to work and fix the climate,” the Denver resident said. “I would say my individual actions hardly mean anything at all.”
U.S. household greenhouse gas emissions are not as much as those from cars, trucks and other transportation, electrical power generating and industry. A 2020 University of Michigan study of 93 million U.S. homes estimates that 20 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions comes from home energy use, with wealthier Americans’ per capita footprints about 25 percent higher than low-income residents.
But like many others that spoke to the AP, that difference hasn’t stopped Hermanson from trying. He’s been a vegetarian for four years, and he tries to bike or take public transportation, buy products with less packaging and recycle.
Among Americans who believe in climate change, 70 percent say it will be necessary for individuals to make major lifestyle changes to combat the issue. Most think individuals have at least some responsibility.
Individuals can believe they personally don’t have a direct impact while also recognizing that collective action is essential to combatting climate change, said Shahzeen Attari, who studies human behavior and climate change at Indiana University.
The poll shows about 6 in 10 Americans say they have reduced their driving, reduced their use of heat or air conditioning and bought used products instead of new ones. Nearly three-quarters are using energy efficient appliances. Among those who are taking those steps, most say the main reason is to save money, rather than to help the environment.
Fewer — roughly a quarter — say they use an electricity supplier that gets power from renewable sources, and only about 1 in 10 live in a home with solar panels or drive a hybrid or electric car.
READ MORE: The economic impacts of unchecked climate change
Brad Machincia, a 38-year-old welder, said he wouldn’t switch from his gas car to an electric vehicle. While he said he grew up in a West Virginia household that used renewable energy sources, he hasn’t adopted those practices for his family in Christiansburg, Virginia. Climate change used to be a concern for him, but at this point, he feels like it’s “beating a dead horse.”
“There’s nothing we can do to fix it,” he said.
Individuals should feel empowered to make climate-driven decisions that not only help reduce emissions but also improve their lives, said Jonathan Foley, executive director at climate nonprofit Project Drawdown. Foley thinks the findings show that efforts to engage Americans need to shift away from doomsday scenarios, include diverse messengers and focus on the ways climate solutions can intersect with Americans’ other priorities.
Julio Carmona, a 37-year-old financial clerk, said he recently transitioned his home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to solar energy because the switch will help reduce his carbon footprint and his expenses, even if modestly.
“I thought that it was just something smart for us to do long term,” he said. “I just kind of wanted to do my part, whether or not it’s gonna make a difference.”
AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.
The poll of 1,053 adults was conducted June 23-27 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4 percentage points. | Climate Change |
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