The Independent's Climate Newsletter
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Friday, December 22, 2023 | |
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Welcome to The Independent's climate newsletter, a weekly digest of climate crisis impacts around the world and the progress being made to tackle them. Thanks for reading - SM | |
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Grey clouds hung over the famous Harbour Bridge as bushfires bring Sydney's air quality at par with New Delhi (Reuters) | |
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Sydney's air quality plummeted to one of the world's worst levels on Tuesday, as bushfires raged in northwestern parts of Australia while the northeast continued to battle floods.
Grey clouds obscured the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge with the air quality index hitting 161, a level considered unhealthy for everyone, in areas north of Sydney's downtown, after 5pm local time.
This brought Sydney, a city otherwise known for its blue skies and pristine beaches on par with New Delhi, one of the world's most polluted capitals.
Elsewhere, a Pacific storm that pounded California's coastal areas and stranded motorists is poised to pounce on the southeastern area of the state on Friday, bringing flood threats to a sweeping area extending from San Diego into the Mojave Desert and even into parts of Arizona.
As millions of Californians scrambled to finish their holiday shopping, the National Weather Service issued flood watches for low-lying urban areas and the deserts.
In other news, MPs have said the UK government should consider actively reducing demand for flying if its current policies on cutting aviation emissions are not working fast enough by 2025.
So far, ministers have resisted the idea of telling people they should fly less, preferring instead to rely on the development of low-carbon alternatives to kerosene. However, the Environment Audit Committee (EAC) is concerned the government's Jet Zero Strategy is not doing enough to stem rising aviation emissions.
Back in California, regulators have unanimously voted in favour of allowing toilet water to be recycled for drinking purposes. It comes after calls from campaigners, who say water is so precious in the state that 'we must use it more than once'.
On Tuesday, the state's Water Resources Control Board laid out how recycled wastewater will be treated before it is pumped into Californians' kitchen faucets. The board said in a press release that the decision to combat water scarcity would make California more resilient to hotter and drier conditions.
Meanwhile, scientists say they have managed to repeatedly produce nuclear fusion ignition for the first time, marking a major milestone towards achieving near-limitless clean energy at scale. Nuclear fusion was on the agenda at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) earlier this month, with governments agreeing to speed up efforts to develop the technology.
In case you missed it, here are key highlights from our analysis of Cop28 climate agreement
* Five key takeaways from Cop28 climate change summit: From marking the "beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era" to operationalising a fund for climate damages, read the highlights from the two-week summit.
* Cop28 has pledged billions in climate change funds – but it barely scratches the surface: Small islands are already disappearing underwater and evidence shows climate finance is nowhere near enough to save them. Despite one big breakthrough on money for poorer nations, global finances need to be transformed to hit our climate goals.
* How a defining moment for the climate was taken over by fossil fuel executives: Some 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted passes for Cop28 in Dubai, the largest number in the climate summit's history.
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The [Cop28] deal is not perfect, but one thing is clear: the world is no longer denying our harmful addiction to fossil fuels. |
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Life in the climate crisis |
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