Climate crisis
Searing heat continues to blanket much of the US south and parts of Mexico for a third week. The relentless, triple-digit heatwave – exacerbated by the climate crisis – has been blamed for more than a dozen deaths in Texas and Louisiana, and a spike in emergency room visits. It has reached above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38C) in much of the Southeast, with high humidity making it feel like 115F (46C) in places. The heat is unlikely to break in the region over this Fourth of July holiday weekend. Meanwhile, California was facing its first major heatwave of the year and forecasters warned that dry, hot, windy conditions were raising the threat of dangerous fires in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Further north, more than 100 million people were under air quality alerts across the Midwest and Northeast as smoke poured south from hundreds of wildfires still burning across Canada. Detroit, Washington DC and Chicago had some of the worst air quality in the world this week.
The UK government was slammed by its own climate advisers on Wednesday for their slow pace in meeting its "net zero" greenhouse gas emissions target and backtracking on fossil fuel commitments. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) said Britain has "lost its clear global leadership position on climate action." The CCC's new report found that government backing for a new coal mine, and new domestic oil and gas production, undermined Britain's "international messaging" telling other countries to stop developing fossil fuels. UK greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 46 per cent from 1990 levels, mainly because of an almost complete removal of coal in electricity generation. Authorities have pledged to reduce emissions by 68 per cent by 2030, eventually reaching net-zero by 2050. But with just seven years to go until the first goalpost, climate advisers say the pace of action is "worryingly slow." Urgent action was particularly needed to help businesses decarbonize and help people adopt low-carbon technologies like heat pumps in their homes. (Associated Press)
An oil spill at a Shell facility in Nigeria has contaminated farmland and a river, upending livelihoods in the fishing and farming communities in part of the Niger Delta, which has long endured environmental pollution caused by the oil industry.
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, or NOSDRA, told The Associated Press that the spill came from the Trans-Niger Pipeline operated by Shell that crosses through communities in Ogoniland, a region where the London-based energy giant has faced decades-long local pushback to its oil exploration. The volume of oil spilled has not been determined, but activists have published images of polluted farmland, water surfaces blighted by oil sheens and dead fish mired in sticky crude. While spills are frequent in the region due to vandalism from oil thieves and a lack of maintenance to pipelines, according to the UN Environmental Program, activists call this a "major one." Nigeria overwhelmingly depends on the Niger Delta's oil resources for its earnings, but pollution from that production has denied residents access to clean water, hurt farming and fishing, and heightened the risk of violence, activists say. London-based Shell said it is working with a joint investigatory team, consisting of regulators, Ogoniland residents and local authorities, to identify cause and impact of the spill.
Rising global heat is changing major snowfalls into extreme rain over mountains - worsening both dangerous flooding and long-term water shortages, according to a new study. Scientists calculated that for every degree Fahrenheit the world warms, extreme rainfall at higher elevation increases by 8.3 per cent (15 per cent for every degree Celsius). Heavy rain in mountains not only causes flooding, landslides and erosion but doesn't store like snowpack that recharges reservoirs in spring and summer. (AP/Nature)
Climate progress
The ocean is heating up and becoming more acidic - and now scientists are testing whether "antacids" might do the trick. The first commercial experiments have begun around ocean alkalinity enhancement — which would help the ocean digest carbon dioxide — and could slow global warming, scientists said. (Nature)
Solar will generate enough electricity to meet 57 per cent of the EU's needs in 2023 according to SolarPower Europe which represents over 300 organisations in the sector. Despite increasing costs, solar remained cheaper than power from fossil fuels and nuclear, the report said. However limited grid capacity and lack of flexibility or storage in national electricity systems is posing a critical risk to the global solar transition. Out of the 26 significant solar countries, 20 report grid bottlenecks as a key barrier to development. In the US, the government has launched a $7bn competitive grant program to help get more solar panels installed at homes in low-income communities.
As severe heat pushed the Texas power grid to record levels of use this week, and officials urged people to conserve electricity, it was clean energy keeping the lights on in the oil-rich state. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the grid, reported record renewable energy production on Wednesday. Solar and wind farms generated 31,468 megawatts, helping to offset 9.6 gigawatts that were lost when gas and coal plants were knocked offline. The Texas grid has unique vulnerabilities when it comes to outages as it stands alone from the rest of the US, and cannot source power from elsewhere. (Washington Post)
The Asia-Pacific region could add $47 trillion to the global economy in the next 50 years and create 180 million jobs by mid-century if they seize opportunities to decarbonise, according to consultancy firm Deloitte. China and India are set to benefit the most, the report added. (South China Morning Post)
A new technique developed by geologists at the University of California has used artificial intelligence to better predict where and why landslides may occur, and could help protect lives and property in some of the world's most disaster-prone areas.
The approach would be particularly valuable in places like California, the researchers say, where drought, wildfires and earthquakes create the perfect recipe for landslide disasters. The climate crisis is expected to raise the risk of landslides as it brings stronger and wetter storms. (UCLA)
This weekend, New Zealand will become the first country to ban the thin plastic bags that supermarket customers use to pack fruit and vegetables. The new ban will also extend to plastic straws and utensils, as the government expands a campaign against single-use plastics it started in 2019 when it banned the thicker plastic shopping bags that customers used to carry home their grocery items. Associate Environment Minister Rachel Brooking said the 2019 bag ban had already prevented more than 1 billion plastic bags from being used in New Zealand, and the new ban on thin bags would add a further reduction of 150 million bags per year. (AP)
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