South Africa proposes global goal for adaptation at pre-Cop26 ministerial
Environment minister Barbara Creecy called for quantifiable improvements in resilience to climate impacts, to give the adaptation agenda the same weight as emissions cuts
Developing nations put numbers on the table for the next climate finance goal
Nearly 100 developing countries have come together to define what success means at Cop26, raising the stakes for donor countries to step up their finance pledges
EU’s border tax gives countries 5 years to clean up industries or face penalties
Unpopular among the bloc's trading partners, countries are seeking exemptions to the carbon levy, as Brussels hints alternatives to pricing may be considered to dodge the tax
Ocean fire raises questions about US support for Mexico’s oil and gas industry
US export credit agency Exim bank has provided $16.14 billion in loans and guarantees to Pemex since 1998, with recent funds going to the site of the fire
DR Congo plans to lift logging moratorium amid forest protection talks
The government is ending a decade-old ban on new forestry concessions, to the horror of campaigners who say the move is incompatible with climate targets
EU must use its carbon border tax to support a just transition around the world
The EU is planning to pocket the revenues from a border levy on carbon, with no support for climate vulnerable countries like Mozambique to clean up their industries
Argentina pitches green debt swap, with the Pope’s blessing
Pope Francis is the unlikely champion of a pioneering green debt relief plan for Argentina, but it is a politically sensitive issue in his home country
Can Retrofitting Dams for Hydro Provide a Green Energy Boost?
With the era of building big dams over in the U.S., a growing number of existing dams are being modified to produce hydropower. These projects, advocates say, avoid the damaging impacts of new dams and could generate enough renewable electricity for several million homes.
In Namibia, Rhino and Elephant Poaching Continues to Decline
Rhino and elephant poaching is significantly down in Namibia, according to data from the country's Ministry of Environment and Tourism. So far in 2021, hunters have illegally killed nine rhinos, an eight-year low, and four elephants, a five-year low, Reuters reported.
U.S. Power Sector Sees Biggest One-Year Drop in Emissions in More Than Two Decades
U.S. power sector emissions dropped 10 percent between 2019 and 2020, owing to greater energy efficiency, less reliance on coal, and the coronavirus pandemic suppressing demand for electricity, according to a new report. This represents the largest one-year drop since the report — compiled by power companies Entergy and Exelon, Bank of America, and environmental groups Ceres and the Natural Resources Defense Council — first began being published in 1997.
Climate Change Responsible for Recent Decline of Eastern Monarch Butterflies
The population of eastern monarch butterflies has been dropping steadily for decades, with some estimates suggesting their numbers are just 20 percent of what they once were. According to a new study, climate change is the biggest driver of recent declines.
Land Grabbers: The Growing Assault on Brazil’s Indigenous Areas
Under President Jair Bolsonaro, illegal miners, loggers and ranchers are invading and occupying ever-larger amounts of Indigenous territory. Brazil’s original inhabitants are increasingly opposing these incursions, leading to conflicts and a surge in killings of local activists.
Series of Rare Arctic Thunderstorms Stuns Scientists
Three successive thunderstorms formed in the Arctic last week, a rare phenomenon in the frigid north, but one that is likely to become more common as the planet warms, Reuters reported.
Urban Heat Islands Making Summer Heat Waves Worse, Study Says
The sweltering heat endured by major American cities is being fueled by vast swaths of concrete and a lack of greenery that can ratchet up temperatures by nearly 9 degrees F (5 degrees C) compared with surrounding rural areas, new research has found.
Will Russia’s Forests Be an Asset or an Obstacle in Climate Fight?
New research indicating Russia’s vast forests store more carbon than previously estimated would seem like good news. But scientists are concerned Russia will count this carbon uptake as an offset in its climate commitments, which would allow its emissions to continue unchecked.
Indigenous Peruvians Use Smartphones to Monitor Deforestation
Members of nearly 40 Indigenous communities in Peru's northern border region of Loreto have been using smartphone mapping apps to track deforestation in the Amazon, the Thomson Reuters Foundation reported. Forest loss there has been driven by illegal gold mining and logging, and by drug traffickers clearing trees to plant coca crops, which are used to make cocaine.
Two Dozen Large Cities Produce 52 Percent of Urban Carbon Emissions
Just 25 cities globally are responsible for 52 percent of urban greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study that highlights the role that cities must play in reaching the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
India has received no bids for 70 percent of the coal mines it recently auctioned off to private companies, reflecting investor concerns about coal’s long-term profitability, Reuters reported.
With Growth of Arctic Shipping, Canada Must Prepare for Major Oil Spills, Study Says
Melting sea ice is spurring a shipping boom in the Northwest Passage, raising the specter of oil spills in the Arctic. A new study evaluates the impact of such a disaster in Canada's Rankin Inlet and finds an oil spill there would be uniquely devastating, owing to the challenge of mounting a cleanup in such a harsh environment.
Once a Rich Desert River, the Gila Struggles to Keep Flowing
The Gila was once a vibrant desert river, providing a lifeline for the riparian habitat and wildlife that depended on it in the U.S. Southwest. But population growth, agricultural withdrawals, and, increasingly, climate change have badly diminished the river and threaten its future.
UK Aims to Dump Coal Early, While Asia Stays the Course
Britain announced that it is aiming to phase out coal power by October, 2024, one year earlier than its previous target date, Reuters reported. By contrast, Asia remains heavily committed to coal, with five countries — China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam — planning to build more than 600 new coal-fired power plants, accounting for 80 percent of planned coal projects globally, according to a new analysis from Carbon Tracker.
Urban Refuge: How Cities Can Help Solve the Biodiversity Crisis
Cities have long been considered species deserts, devoid of wildlife beyond pigeons and squirrels. But with animals such as snowy owls, otters and bobcats now appearing in urban areas, scientists are recognizing that cities can play a significant role in fostering biodiversity.
Natural Protectors: Kenyan Women Step Up to Save a Forest
Only a few years ago, Samburu women in northern Kenya were cutting down firewood in Kirisia forest and burning it to make charcoal. Now, those same women are directly involved in managing the forest, using it sustainably and reporting any illegal activity to authorities.
Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Exceed EPA Estimates, Study Finds
A new study finds that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has severely underestimated methane emissions from U.S. oil and gas development, adding to a growingbody of work showing that pollution from drilling is greater than EPA figures would suggest.
Florida Keys Faces Tough Choices for Coping With Rising Seas
Long famed for its spectacular fishing, sprawling coral reefs and literary residents such as Ernest Hemingway, the Florida Keys is now acknowledging a previously unthinkable reality: it faces being overwhelmed by the rising seas and not every home can be saved.
Amid Troubles for Fossil Fuels, Has the Era of ‘Peak Oil’ Arrived?
For years, analysts have predicted that rising world oil consumption would peak and start declining in the coming decades. But with a recent string of setbacks for big oil companies and the rapid advance of electric vehicles, some now say that “peak oil” is already here.
EVs Cost 40 Percent Less to Maintain Than Conventional Cars, Energy Department Report Says
Maintenance costs for a light-duty, battery-powered car are around 40 percent less per mile than for a gas-powered car, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program is pleased to announce that Allison Crimmins will serve as Director of the FIfth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). She is detailed to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation. As Director, Allison will oversee...
On May 19, 2021, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced that Dr. Mike Kuperberg is returning to USGCRP as Executive Director. This is his second stint in USGCRP leadership, having served previously as Executive Director from 2015 through November 2020. He is detailed from the Department of Energy’s Office of...
NASA, on behalf of USGCRP, issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) seeking author nominations and scientific/technical inputs for the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). The FRN, which opened October 15, 2020 and closed the following month on November 14, also served as a notice of planned public engagement opportunities. Prospective authors...
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, the latest in a series of spacecraft designed to monitor our oceans, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The satellite will be followed in 2025 by its twin, Sentinel-6B. Together, the pair is tasked with extending our nearly 30-year-long record of global sea...
The U.S. Global Change Research Program extends our condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Mike Freilich, a widely respected geoscientist and former director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, and shares the loss of a longtime member of the USGCRP family.
Dr. Anthony Janetos, a longstanding member of the USGCRP community and Director of Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, passed away on Tuesday, August 6, 2019. He was 64 years old. Dr. Janetos dedicated his career to interdisciplinary, policy-relevant global change science. Prior to the Pardee...
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is pleased to announce the release of Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) and the 2nd State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2). NCA4 Vol II NCA4 Vol II, Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States , assesses a range of potential climate change-related impacts, with an...
The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) Vol. II remains on track for a December delivery in fulfillment of the Congressional mandate. NCA4 Vol. I, the Climate Science Special Report, is available at science2017.globalchange.gov. Final agency review and comment. Authors have been revising chapters and responding to comments submitted in the...
It’s been a while since our last update, but rest assured that we’ve been hard at work on Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4 Vol. II) in the meantime. Here’s a brief rundown of the goings-on: Public review and comment. This winter (November 3, 2017 through January 31, 2018), the public had the chance to weigh in on the draft...
On behalf of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, we are pleased to announce major milestones in the timelines of three important reports. The first of these is the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR), which represents Volume I of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4). The final version of CSSR is released today as a step toward...
The June contiguous U.S. average temperature was 72.64 degress Fahrenheit, 4.15 degress Fahrenheit above the 20th century average. The precipitation total was 2.93 inches, equal to average.
The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for June was 0.88 degrees C (1.58 degress Fahrenheit) above the 20th century average of 15.5 degrees C (59.9 degress Fahrenheit).
A strong and persistent ridge over the western U.S. was the key climate feature during June. This "heat dome" was associated with extreme heat that set numerous records. It also exacerbated the ongoing severe drought across the West by continuing to suppress precipitation there. The drought in turn may have exacerbated the heat by reducing the latent cooling from evaporation. Climate change has also been shown to make similar heat waves stronger, longer-lasting, and more frequent.
According to data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, during June, there were 109 preliminary tornado reports. This is well below the 1991-2010 average of 243 tornadoes for the month of June. Historically, the month of June represents the second-highest average number of tornadoes based on the 1991-2010 reference period. This June was a relatively inactive month for tornadoes with only 3 June days having 10 or more confirmed tornadoes across the United States.
As of June 29th, 47.19% of the Contiguous U.S. was experiencing drought conditions, 35.71% was in severe drought, 22.74% extreme, and 9.71% exceptional.
For June, 5,791 fires (11th least since 2000) burned 792,074 acres (10th least on record), which is 136.8 acres burned/fire (11th most on record). For January - June, 30,626 fires (10th most since 2000) burned 1,472,510 acres (5th least on record), which is 48.1 acres burned/fire (8th least on record).
Both the Atlantic and the East Pacific had unusually active starts to their hurricane seasons. The Atlantic tied a record with three named storms in June. The total of four named storms for the year through June ties 2012, 2016, and 2020 for the most on record. Similarly, the East Pacific had four named storms in June, which tied for the 4th most on record. The total of five for the year through June tied a record as well.
Don’t blame men for the climate crisis – we should point the finger at corporations
Male spending – on petrol and meat – is apparently worse for the environment than women’s. But it’s the system, not individuals, that needs to change
Sorry, boys, but it’s all your fault. Melting ice caps, flash floods, rising sea levels: men are to blame for the lot of it. Please don’t drown the messenger, I’m just relaying the results of a Swedish study that found that men’s spending habits cause 16% more climate-heating emissions than women’s. The biggest difference seems to be that men spend more money on petrol. Another big difference: the men surveyed bought more meat than women. So this is the way the world ends, eh? Not with a bang, but with blokes eating too many burgers.
I don’t know how many studies published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology go viral, but this paper has had an enormous amount of traction. Of course, this is largely because its findings leant themselves to delicious clickbait such as Men Are Worse for Climate Change Than Women Because They Love Meat and Cars. To be fair, the study didn’t lean into gender war territory in the way you would expect based on the headlines it generated. Gender wasn’t even mentioned in the paper’s title, which was “Shifting expenditure on food, holidays, and furnishings could lower greenhouse gas emissions by almost 40%”.
‘Record-shattering’ heat becoming much more likely, says climate study
More heatwaves even worse than those seen recently in north-west of America forecast in research
“Record-shattering” heatwaves, even worse than the one that recently hit north-west America, are set to become much more likely in future, according to research. The study is a stark new warning on the rapidly escalating risks the climate emergency poses to lives.
The shocking temperature extremes suffered in the Pacific north-west and in Australia 2019-2020 were “exactly what we are talking about”, said the scientists. But they said the world had yet to see anything close to the worst impacts possible, even under the global heating that had already happened.
‘When disaster strikes, you have to help’: the volunteers in a global crisis
From Syrians helping in Germany’s floods to Russian CrossFitters fighting fires, ordinary people helping to tackle the climate crisis
When Anas Alakkad, a Saarland-based translator and paramedic from Damascus, saw pictures of the flooded German towns on his Facebook feed on Sunday night, he fired off messages to Syrian friends around Germany.
Plans of four G20 states are threat to global climate pledge, warn scientists
‘Disastrous’ energy policies of China, Russia, Brazil and Australia could stoke 5C rise in temperatures if adopted by the rest of the world
A key group of leading G20 nations is committed to climate targets that would lead to disastrous global warming, scientists have warned. They say China, Russia, Brazil and Australia all have energy policies associated with 5C rises in atmospheric temperatures, a heating hike that would bring devastation to much of the planet.
The analysis, by the peer-reviewed group Paris Equity Check, raises serious worries about the prospects of key climate agreements being achieved at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow in three months. The conference – rated as one of the most important climate summits ever staged – will attempt to hammer out policies to hold global heating to 1.5C by agreeing on a global policy for ending net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Met police ‘tried to recruit ex-officer to spy on climate change activists’
Former detective says he was asked to inform on fellow Extinction Rebellion campaigners
A former police officer who is now a prominent climate crisis campaigner has accused the Metropolitan police of attempting to recruit him to spy on Extinction Rebellion.
Former detective sergeant Paul Stephens, who joined XR after he retired from the London force in 2018, claims he was approached by an officer he knew near Parliament Square during the group’s campaign of non-violent mass civil disobedience in London in October 2019.
Merkel’s political and scientific sides slug it out in swan song presser
Always the diplomatic politician, forever the objective scientist, Germany’s chancellor gives her last annual summer press do
As she faced a lecture-hall sized auditorium packed with national and international press for the last time in her 16-year chancellorship, there was a sense that the room was simultaneously hearing from two very different people in Angela Merkel.
One was Merkel the politician, unafraid to talk up her achievements, who patted herself on the back for diplomatic victories and expertly fudged answers to difficult questions. The other was Merkel the scientist, who found it hard to skirt around uncomfortable truths and instinctively wanted to scrutinise her doppelgänger’s track record.
Her inability to let politics descend to sloganeering is striking, even more so when compared with certain British prime ministers
After Covid, the climate crisis will be the next thing the right says we ‘just have to live with’ | Aditya Chakrabortty
The politics of this new, extreme individualism will make collective responses to social crises impossible
Soon, a few of the more shameless newspaper commentators will urge the rest of us to “learn to live” with climate breakdown. Soon, a couple of especially sharp-elbowed cabinet ministers will sigh to the Spectator that, yes, carbon emissions should ideally be slashed – but we must make a trade-off between “lives and livelihoods”. Soon, a little platoon of Tory backbenchers will respond to TV pictures of another devastating flash flood or deadly heatwave by complaining about “fearmongering”. “Why is the BBC so doomy?” they’ll ask, as the death toll rises.
Soon, shockingly soon, the cheap shots, the brazen stat-bending and the coprophagic cynicism that have warped British discourse since March 2020 will migrate from Covid to an even bigger and more lethal crisis: the climate emergency. And just as they have helped shape the self-inflicted catastrophe that England has embarked upon this week, so they will work their terrible influence on that one.
How does the human body cope with extreme heat? (part two) – podcast
We learned in our previous episode about the very real consequences that extreme heat has on human health and wellbeing, but there is little research into what actually happens to our bodies when exposed to extreme heat apart from in the world of sports science. In the second part of our discussion, as fears mount that the Tokyo Olympics will be the hottest on record and the world gears up for Cop26, Shivani Dave speaks to Mike Tipton, a professor of human and applied physiology
Resistance in the ranks: any nudge by Morrison towards net zero by 2050 will be a tough sell to LNP
Australia’s prime minister is under pressure to act on climate change, but resolutions ahead of LNP convention show strong opposition
Scott Morrison’s attempt to nudge his government in the direction of a net zero commitment by 2050 is expected to face resistance at this weekend’s annual convention of the Liberal National party in Brisbane.
Policy resolutions circulated to LNP members ahead of the event include a proposal originating from George Christensen’s federal divisional council calling for the Morrison government to “oppose net zero emissions if job losses occur for little gain”.
A historic decision on the future of the Great Barrier Reef
This week, Unesco’s World Heritage Committee will decide whether the Great Barrier Reef should be labelled ‘in danger’. If this happens, it will be the first time a natural world heritage site has received this status due to the impacts of climate change. Environment reporter Graham Readfearn explains how the Morrison government is turning to an old playbook to lobby against this move. He also explores what an ‘in danger’ listing would mean for the future of the reef, and for Australia’s approach to climate change
Climate crisis threatens access to nutrients in fish, study finds
Results of research show that fisheries in over 40% of countries studied are highly vulnerable
The climate crisis and to a lesser extent overfishing could threaten the world’s supply of essential vitamins and minerals gained from fisheries, according to research.
Globally, 1 billion people rely on fish and seafood as their primary source of protein. Fish is also a key source of micronutrients – vitamins and minerals such as omega 3, calcium and iron – critical for the body’s health. A deficiency in these can cause a range of dangerous health conditions as well as reductions in energy levels and mental clarity.
UK weather: heatwave health alert for England extended to Friday
Experts warn climate crisis fuelling hot conditions that can pose a ‘severe threat to public health’
The heatwave health alert issued by Public Health England has been extended to Friday as much of the country continues to swelter under high temperatures.
Experts said the heatwaves in the summer of 2020 caused more than 2,500 premature deaths and that the climate crisis is making heatwaves more intense and more frequent.
This time last year Victoria was enduring its long winter of Covid isolation. Other states were cautiously loosening restrictions. Most Australians were clinging to the assumption that the pandemic would end, sometime. Vaccines would be developed and, once we’d all got them, the threat would be over. We just had to hang in there until it was done.
Now the idea of a neat end point is far less certain because mutated versions of the virus keep slipping through our defences and closing down our lives again, just as we dare to make even the most modest of plans.
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Why are extreme weather events on the rise? (part one) – podcast
The Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, speaks to Shivani Dave about extreme weather events – including the extreme heat recently recorded in the US and Canada. In the first of two parts, we hear how extreme heat comes about and why extreme weather events such as floods and monsoons look set to become more likely and even more extreme
Using a name inspired by Indonesian farmers, Subak will share information and fund hi-tech solutions to fight global heating
As monikers go, Subak may seem an odd choice for a new organisation that aims to accelerate hi-tech efforts to combat the climate crisis. The name is Indonesian, it transpires, and refers to an ancient agricultural system that allows farmers to co-ordinate their efforts when irrigating and growing crops.
“Subak allows farmers to carefully synchronise their use of water and so maximise rice production,” said Bryony Worthington, founder and board member of the new, not-for-profit climate action group. “And that is exactly what we are going to do – with data. By sharing and channelling data, we can maximise our efforts to combat carbon emissions and global warming. Data is going to be the new water, in other words.”
I tried an app to reduce my family’s meat consumption and it worked
Discovering new recipes and getting the children on board helped us break old habits and eat better for the planet and our health
Like many families, we’ve discussed the environmental and animal-welfare impact of the meat we eat and resolved we should do better. I wouldn’t say we are massive meat-eaters – especially since cookbooks by the Guardian’s own Anna Jones and Meera Sodha entered our lives. But a packet of minced beef, a few chicken thighs and some sausages or bacon often make it into our supermarket trolley, because, frankly, they’re things everyone in our family will eat.
Also, having been raised an omnivore, my default recipes when feeling tired or uninspired are still chilli con carne, spaghetti bolognese, or something that involves chunks of chicken.
On vaccine equality, the UK has failed to show the leadership the world needs | Mohamed Adow and Tasneem Essop
Britain has broken the promises Boris Johnson made before the G7 – a change of tack is necessary to make Cop26 a success
Covid and the climate crisis are the two defining global crises of our time and Britain has a crucial role to play in addressing them both. As the Cop26 host, it will be responsible for overseeing a successful outcome at the UN climate talks in Glasgow in November.
Only a few weeks ago, before the prime minister hosted the G7, Boris Johnson promised the group of wealthy nations would vaccinate the world by the end of the year.
These are the actions of a small, inward-looking government, not one taking its international responsibilities seriously
Mohamed Adowis director of Power Shift Africa, a Kenyan climate and energy thinktank. He is a longtime observer of the UN climate talks.
Tasneem Essop is executive director of Climate Action Network, an international group of more than 1,500 civil society organisations working on the climate crisis, social justice and sustainability in more than 130 countries.
Biden’s clean energy plan would cut emissions and save 317,000 lives
A new report has found that a policy standard would be most effective to reach the goal of 80% renewable energy use by 2030
A Biden administration plan to force the rapid uptake of renewable energy would swiftly cut planet-heating emissions and save hundreds of thousands of lives from deadly air pollution, a new report has found amid growing pressure on the White House to deliver a major blow against the climate crisis.
Of various climate policy options available to the new administration, a clean energy standard would provide the largest net benefits to the US, according to the report, in terms of costs as well as lives saved.
Fox News’ planned 24-hour weather channel has climate experts worried
Climate crisis researchers worry about the channel’s reach to perpetuate misinformation and advance political goals
Fox News Media, the company that owns the reactionary, climate crisis-skeptical Fox News, is launching a weather channel this year – a development that has climate crisis experts worried.
Fox Weather, a 24-hour channel devoted to all things meteorological, promises “cutting-edge display technology”, according to a press release, with “forecasting experts surrounding every major weather event”.
The water levels at the Great Salt Lake have hit a historic low, a grim milestone for the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River that comes as a megadrought grips the region, the Associated Press reports. The new record comes months earlier than when the lake typically hits its lowest level of the year, indicating water levels could continue to drop even further, officials said.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it intends to set more stringent standards on water pollution from coal power plants, reinstating regulations that the Trump administration had rolled back, CNN reports. But the administration won’t begin drafting the replacement rule until fall of 2022, drawing some criticism from environmentalists that officials aren’t moving fast enough.
A nine-year-old defamation case can continue against bloggers, who prominent climate scientist Michael Mann says spread disinformation regarding his scientific work. But Mann cannot sue the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the conservative think tank that published the blogger’s work, a Washington, D.C. judge ruled. The decision shows the high burden of proof required under the First Amendment.
Hundreds of thousands of young salmon are dying in California’s Klamath River as low water levels brought about by drought allow a parasite to thrive, devastating a Native American tribe whose diet and traditions are tied to the fish, the Associated Press reports. Separately, the Sacramento River is facing a “near-complete loss” of young Chinook salmon due to abnormally warm water, officials said.
President Biden’s push for “good, union jobs” in clean energy has increased hope that organizing solar and wind workers can close the pay gap between them and fossil fuel workers. Comparisons between the fossil fuel and renewable energy industries are complicated, but one thing that’s clear is that median wages for solar and wind remain lower in comparison. Labor organizers want to change that.
China didn’t finance any coal projects via its Belt and Road Initiative in the first half of the year, marking the first time the program bucked funding such projects since it was launched in 2013, Bloomberg Green reports. The move comes amid increased scrutiny from investors and environmental groups due to concern over coal’s outsized contribution to man-made climate change.
Michael Mann may succeed in going to trial over the effort to smear his "hockey stick" research, but the blog publishers won't be defendants.
By Marianne Lavelle
A Washington, D.C. judge has ruled that the conservative think tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute cannot be held responsible for an outside blogger’s 2012 online attack on a prominent climate scientist.
President Biden’s push for “good, union jobs” in clean energy has increased hope that organizing solar and wind workers can close the pay gap between them and fossil fuel workers.
By Delger Erdenesanaa
Two years ago, Skip Bailey noticed a lot of trucks from a company called Solar Holler driving around Huntington, West Virginia. A union organizer with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Bailey saw an opportunity.
Most of the nation can expect above-average temperatures this week as a giant heat wave descends on much of the continental United States, USA Today reports. Affected regions will see temperatures spiking at least 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit above average, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, with many states seeing triple digits.
More than 200 of the world’s leading climate scientists will begin meeting today to finalize a landmark report summarizing how Earth’s climate has already changed, and what humans can expect for the rest of the century, NPR reports. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report, last issued in 2013, comes as worldwide deadly disasters underscore the urgency of addressing global warming.
Arctic seabirds, found dead in their nests a decade ago, could be “canaries in the coal mine for the effects of climate change,” warned scientist Emily Choy, author of a new study that looks at whether Arctic species can adapt in a rapidly warming world. The traits that allow the high-latitude animals to thrive in cold climates could now threaten their survival, the study found.
As California’s Dixie fire, just north of California, converged with a second blaze Saturday night, officials ordered evacuations in several communities, Reuters reports. As firefighters struggled to contain the Dixie fire, which has incinerated more than 190,000 acres, officials in Northern California worry the smoke columns could spawn lightning storms that ignite more blazes.
Officials have reported that at least 130 people are dead and nearly 100,000 have been displaced after a Monsoon hit India this weekend, causing severe flooding and deadly landslides, The Hill reports. One landslide killed 38 people in a small village, and 59 more were reported dead after nine separate landslides plowed through parts of Maharashtra, government officials said.
Mecca, the site of an annual Muslim pilgrimage, is already one of the world’s hottest cities. But the 2 million that gather there each year may soon face deadlier conditions, a new study shows. Another study found warming temperatures are to blame for Monarch butterfly declines. And an artist attempts to convey the climate crisis on painted seaweed. That and more in the latest Warming Trends.
New studies suggest that rising temperatures may prove disastrous for species of birds, fish and other animals that are adapted to the cold of Arctic climes.
By Haley Dunleavy
In 2019, Emily Choy rappelled off the side of a guano-covered cliff almost 400 feet above Hudson Bay, and reached for a sleek black-and-white seabird. The laughing calls of more than 60,000 thick-billed murres surrounded her.
As large swaths of North America sizzle through another sweltering summer and record heat waves, cities face a triple heat whammy. Climate change is bearing down, messing with weather in new ways that can exacerbate and supercharge heat waves, as Seattle and Portland discovered in late June. Urban cores can be 10 degrees or more warmer than the surrounding countryside, because of the way cities have been built, with so much pavement, so many buildings but not enough trees. And decades of disinvestment in neighborhoods where people of color live have left them especially vulnerable to heat.
Plus, in the Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana, the last remaining residents of the island that has lost 98 percent of its land to sea level rise are faced with a decision to vacate or stay on the land that has been home to a group of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw for generations, and vital to the tribe’s way of life.
To Flee, or to Stay Until the End and Be Swallowed by the Sea BY: DALIA FAHEID & KATIE LIVINGSTONE On the Isle de Jean Charles in the bayous of Louisiana, the nation’s first federally funded climate migrants have a decision to make as their ancestral island disappears.
A column highlighting climate-related studies, innovations, books, cultural events and other developments from the global warming frontier.
By Katelyn Weisbrod
Millions travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia every year to fulfill one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith—the “hajj,” a pilgrimage to the sacred city every Muslim who is able must take. But the physically demanding experience, which requires long walks and sleeping in tents in one of the world’s hottest cities, will become more dangerous for pilgrims as the planet warms, a recent study found.
During the hajj this week, temperatures in Mecca hovered between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Only 60,000 people
From flooding in New York and Detroit to extreme heat and wildfires on the West Coast, America’s infrastructure has taken a beating from extreme weather made worse by climate change, CNN reports. This year’s ongoing drought, record heat and heavy rainfall are highlighting the urgency around rebuilding the country’s crumbling infrastructure and fueling political fights over how to pay for it.
Even well-prepared cities are struggling to mitigate the onslaught of record-breaking heat waves this summer. In many American cities, the summer heat has highlighted how climate change, the urban heat island effect and a history of disinvestment in communities of color are playing out in deadly concert as officials scramble to keep their most vulnerable populations cool—and alive.
The Bureau of Land Management hasn’t had a Senate-confirmed leader since the Obama administration. Biden’s pick and a key player in his climate agenda, Tracy Stone-Manning now advances to a full Senate vote in what’s expected to be another partisan fight. Democrats call Stone-Manning a trusted bridge builder. Republicans say she’s a liar who supported ecoterrorists.
Next month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—or IPCC for short—plans to release its sixth report, a major scientific document that summarizes the current state of global warming and aims to offer critical knowledge to the world’s decision makers, according to an E&E News report in Scientific American. So, what will the latest edition contain and what should people make of it?
With seventeen fires and more than 99,000 acres burned, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has called on the National Guard to assist with the state’s efforts to contain the blazes, The Hill reports. Two National Guard helicopters and 24 soldiers will provide assistance for 15 days. Montana is the latest victim of the year’s particularly intense wildfire season.
Last year, Great River Energy said it would shut down its North Dakota coal-fired power plant in 2022, a move some of its shareholders saw as necessary for the well-being of the environment. Now the company is instead trying to sell the plant for just $1, and these Minnesota investors are not happy. Shareholders have until July 30 to seal the deal or stop it in its tracks.
Tracy Stone-Manning is described by Democrats as a bridge-builder and by Republicans as a supporter of ecoterrorists in a bitterly partisan committee vote.
By Judy Fahys
Partisan fisticuffs over the Biden Administration’s nominee to lead the nation’s top lands agency are moving on to the full Senate, after the Energy and Natural Resources Committee deadlocked Thursday in its confirmation hearing for Tracy Stone-Manning to be director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Utility customers and clean energy advocates say the proposed sale is being rushed through to avoid scrutiny.
By Dan Gearino
In the next week, the boards of electric cooperative utilities across Minnesota will vote on whether to approve a plan to sell, rather than close, a North Dakota coal-fired power plant that has provided them with electricity for decades.
Climate change, heat islands and disinvestment have led New York to subsidize air conditioners and Phoenix to cool street corridors and public housing.
By James Bruggers
In New York City, several Hunts Point residents have lists of neighbors they’re checking on to help keep the most vulnerable alive during heat waves.
It’s not fully understood how space tourism will affect climate change, but rockets like the one that shot Jeff Bezos and three others to the edge of space this week are the only direct source of greenhouse gas emissions in the stratosphere above 20 kilometers. Bezos believes space colonization is part of the climate solution, but critics say it will only make the problem worse.
Ohio has banned local governments from limiting oil and gas drilling, but just passed a measure that gives counties the ability to veto wind and solar projects. A clean energy advocate says this is hypocrisy and likely to drive away jobs. That and more in this week’s Inside Clean Energy by Dan Gearino.
Recent heat waves that gripped the U.S. highlighted a connection between environmental issues and social justice issues, the Washington Post reports. Warnings about deadly heat did not reach the most vulnerable, help did not come and many died alone as a result.
The Germany-based car company joined many others in the auto industry in committing to manufacture solely electric vehicles by the middle of the decade. To accomplish this, the company is investing $47 billion into research and development projects.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted along partisan lines to advance Tracy Stone-Manning, President Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, heading to a full Senate vote. Stone-Manning sent a letter on behalf of protesters who spiked trees to prevent logging in Idaho in 1989, while she was a graduate student at the University of Montana.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said it will be “essentially impossible” to keep warming temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius without significant emissions reductions from China, the world’s largest economy. Kerry said the country’s commitment to peak emissions by 2030 doesn’t go far enough to achieve the goal agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate accord.
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