These are the stories I have found:
- Opinion: Deb Haaland: It's time to invest in WV coal communities
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FEMA Knows a Lot About Climate-Driven Flooding. But It’s Not Pushing Homeowners Hard Enough to Buy Insurance
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Our leaders look climate change in the eyes, and shrug
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California Gold Rush town 'destroyed' by state's largest wildfire
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New climate models needed to highlight necessity of post economic growth strategies to tackle climate change
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Are your savings fueling climate change?
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How joining a climate program could save Western Pennsylvania kids’ lives and lungs
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Costa Rica eyes permanent ban on fossil fuel exploration and extraction
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Emissions from cows on New Zealand dairy farms reach record levels
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How joining a climate program could save Western Pennsylvania kids’ lives and lungs
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A world of hurt: 2021 climate disasters raise alarm over food security
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Three Charts that Show the Energy Transition in 50 States
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Opinion: When It Comes to a Climate Bill, Time is of the Essence
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Exxon suspended from climate advocacy group it helped form
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We’re on the brink of catastrophe, warns Tory climate chief
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Which country is the world leader in renewable energy in 2021?
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Climate change: New report will highlight 'stark reality' of warming
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Warming Trends: Penguins in Trouble, More About the Dead Zone and Does Your Building Hold Climate Secrets?
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Saudi Arabia’s first wind farm begins electricity production
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NASA Helps Firefighters By Sending Pics From International Space Station to Show Key Spots of Moving Wildfires
Deb Haaland: It's time to invest in WV coal communities
As I travel throughout America, I am filled with hope as I see businesses open and communities recovering. Thanks to the passage of the American Rescue Plan and making progress in defeating COVID-19, economic growth is up and unemployment is down.
The nation’s ongoing economic recovery is opening opportunities to help stabilize and empower workers who have faced economic instability since before the pandemic.
Throughout my travels as Interior Secretary, I have seen firsthand how hardworking coal communities that helped power our country are now facing significant challenges in restoring their community environments and retooling toward developing a robust and sustainable clean energy future.
FEMA Knows a Lot About Climate-Driven Flooding. But It’s Not Pushing Homeowners Hard Enough to Buy Insurance
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been collecting a lot of information about flood risks across America, including the increased risk of flooding linked to climate change. But the agency has not effectively used that new knowledge to persuade more Americans to buy flood insurance, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
As a result, homeowners are at increasing risk of costly damage from floods, and the government is facing rising costs for disaster relief assistance, the report found. The report called on Congress to consider requiring FEMA to evaluate how the agency can use the “comprehensive and up-to-date flood risk information” it has been collecting to determine which properties should be required to have flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program.
Under that program, managed by FEMA, insurance is available to anyone living in one of the 23,000 participating communities. Homes and businesses in areas with a high risk of flooding and mortgages from government-backed lenders are required to have flood insurance.
Our leaders look climate change in the eyes, and shrug
If you have cultivated an Edgar Allen Poe-like appreciation for the macabre, there is a certain sort of amusement to be had in watching the developed world deal with the insistent onslaught of climate change. Like many horror stories, this one features a main character full of futile determination to maintain a sense of normalcy even as the ominous signs of doom become ever more impossible to ignore. We can chuckle knowing that the monster is going to come for our designated protectors. We stop chuckling knowing that it’s coming for all of us next.
California Gold Rush town 'destroyed' by state's largest wildfire
The largest wildfire currently burning in California, known as the Dixie Fire, has destroyed nearly all of the historic Gold Rush town of Greenville.
The estimated 800 residents of the northern California community were told to evacuate before the blaze tore through the downtown area.
Officials say some people may not have heeded the order to leave. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries.
The three-week old Dixie Fire is now the eighth largest in state history.
Pictures from the scene show tall trees that have caught on fire, and structures that have been scorched and hollowed out by flames.
Despite rain Utah reservoirs see no improvement, storage drops to 53%
As monsoon moisture exits the region and a drier stretch moves in, there doesn't appear to be an end in sight to Utah's ongoing drought.
The Utah Department of Natural Resources released the weekly drought update that stated that most of the state is still in an extreme drought despite the recent heavy rains that caused severe flooding in some areas.
The rains did not help improve the state's shrinking reservoirs with the statewide average storage falling to 53 percent, from 55 percent just last week.
“Recent monsoons have soaked many parts of the state. This much-needed rain has helped reduce wildfire risk and temporarily improve soil moisture and streamflows. The storms have not, however, pulled us out of this drought,” Utah Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Brian Steed said. “Hopefully, steady rain and snow will continue into this winter when it will have the most significant impact on drought conditions.”
New climate models needed to highlight necessity of post economic growth strategies to tackle climate change
New climate models which challenge the assumption that wealthy countries can continue to pursue economic growth, while mitigating the impact of climate change, must be developed urgently to help inform realistic public and policy debate, say academics writing in the journal Nature Energy.
The academics call for scientists who develop climate models to explore post-growth approaches which are designed to keep economies stable without growth, while improving people’s lives.
They point out that existing models, which are based on continued economic growth, gamble on dramatic and potentially unfeasible technological change to meet the Paris Agreement goals of keeping global warming below 1.5°C or 2°C.
Boris Johnson ‘missing in action’ ahead of vital climate talks, says Keir Starmer
Vital UN climate talks are at risk of failure because Boris Johnson is “missing in action” while his climate spokesperson talks about freezing bread, Keir Starmer has warned.
The Labour leader said there is already “dystopia” all around caused by climate breakdown, but Johnson’s ambition to tackle the scale of the crisis is irresponsibly small.
The UK will host the Cop26 summit in Glasgow this November, where countries must set out plans for drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for this decade, to avoid catastrophic and irreversible changes to the climate.
“As host of the summit, the world is looking to Britain to deliver,” writes Starmer in today’s Guardian. “We cannot afford to miss this moment, but I fear we will.”
Phytoplankton blooms hint at changing Arctic waters
During the spring and summer in the Arctic Ocean, various types of phytoplankton show up in abundance. This happens when ice cover recedes, exposing these floating plant-like organisms that, like plants on land, need sunlight and nutrients to thrive to the ample sunlight that causes their numbers to explode.
At times, these blooms can be so large that they are visible from space. Two composite images made available by NASA, America’s space agency, during the past month have shown this occurring in mesmerising detail. But they also hint at something less appealing: change brought on by a warming marine environment.
For example, the image above, taken of the Barents Sea on July 15, is odd in that the bloom is two-toned. Typically, various types of phytoplankton bloom at different times. This is because different species thrive under different conditions, causing the blooms that mark their high points to occur in sequence.
Are your savings fueling climate change?
Banks need to stop reckless profiteering that threatens our financial system and instead invest in resiliency.
That’s a less diplomatic phrasing of the message from President Biden’s recent Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk, which recognizes that continued financing of fossil fuel projects represents a huge risk to the U.S. and world economies.
Every loan a bank makes carries risk. If paid enough to take a risk, banks will. And if a bank believes it can pass the cost of a risk to someone else, it will do that too.
However, if a bank doesn’t fully understand the risk it has taken, it can misprice the transaction and suffer a bad outcome. If banks overall don’t understand a huge, systemic risk they are all taking, the consequences can be catastrophic.
How joining a climate program could save Western Pennsylvania kids’ lives and lungs
Last month, Pennsylvania took a major step toward joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program that limits climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The program, already implemented in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia, has an important side benefit: lower emissions of other air pollutants that are harmful to human health, including sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). RGGI only specifically regulates carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but emissions of these other pollutants are reduced as a natural side effect of cutting CO2.
A 2020 Columbia University study found that those reductions helped RGGI states avoid an estimated 537 cases of child asthma, 112 preterm births, 98 cases of autism spectrum disorder, and 56 cases of low birthweight from 2009 to 2014, creating economic savings of between $191 million to $350 million.
Costa Rica eyes permanent ban on fossil fuel exploration and extraction
Costa Rican lawmakers this week will discuss a bill to permanently ban fossil fuel exploration and extraction, a move that would prevent future governments from pivoting on the issue as the popular eco-tourism destination country aims to decarbonize by 2050.
Costa Rica started efforts to ban fossil fuel exploration in 2002 under President Abel Pacheco. This ban was supposed to expire in 2014 but later extended until 2050. The new bill, backed by the administration of President Carlos Alvarado, would go further by permanently banning it.
"Our concern now is to remove the temptation, either today or at any time tomorrow, for there to be any current or future government who might think that returning to fossil fuels of the past century is actually a good idea for our country,” Christiana Figueres, a former U.N. climate chief and former Costa Rican government official who has publicly advocated for the bill, said in an interview with Reuters.
Emissions from cows on New Zealand dairy farms reach record levels
Greenhouse gases released by New Zealand’s dairy industry have hit an all-time high, according to the latest data.
Data from Stats NZ, just released for the years 2007-2019, showed dairy emissions rose 3.18% in 2019, to a total of 17,719 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent that year. That rise helped drive an overall increase across the agricultural sector, which released almost 42,000 kilotonnes that year.
Agriculture made up more than half of the total industry and household emissions measured by Stats NZ, with most of that split between dairy, sheep and beef farming. Theincrease continued a longer-term rise in emissions from New Zealand agriculture, where emissions were up 5.5% in the past decade.
The emissions created by the digestive systems of New Zealand’s 6.3m cows are among New Zealand’s biggest environmental problems. Agriculture is one of the country’s biggest producers of the greenhouse gases that cause global heating and the climate crisis.
How joining a climate program could save Western Pennsylvania kids’ lives and lungs
Last month, Pennsylvania took a major step toward joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program that limits climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The program, already implemented in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia, has an important side benefit: lower emissions of other air pollutants that are harmful to human health, including sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). RGGI only specifically regulates carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but emissions of these other pollutants are reduced as a natural side effect of cutting CO2.
A 2020 Columbia University study found that those reductions helped RGGI states avoid an estimated 537 cases of child asthma, 112 preterm births, 98 cases of autism spectrum disorder, and 56 cases of low birthweight from 2009 to 2014, creating economic savings of between $191 million to $350 million.
A world of hurt: 2021 climate disasters raise alarm over food security
In July, a video went viral on social media in Argentina showing people walking across what looks like a desert. But it isn’t a desert. This is the bed of the Paraná River, part of the second-largest river system in South America. Normally the stream rises in Brazil and reaches the sea via the River Plate, draining a vast watershed covering all of Paraguay, southern Brazil and northern Argentina. Normally the water volume flowing to the Atlantic roughly equals that of the Mississippi River.
What’s happening now is not normal. The drying up of large stretches of river comes as the most severe drought since 1944 afflicts the region. No relief is expected in the short term. According to forecasts from Argentina’s Ministry of Public Works, the lack of rain will last for at least another three months.
Besides damaging crops, the drought also means barge-hauled grains can’t get to market cheaply, forcing Argentina to support commodities transport with $10.4 million, and costing the nation’s grain farmers and exporters $315 million. It’s likely consumers will ultimately foot the bill.
Three Charts that Show the Energy Transition in 50 States
The Energy Information Administration reported last week that, for the first time ever, the United States generated more electricity from renewable sources in 2020 than from coal.
The report made official what I reported in February based on preliminary data.
I’ve spent the week looking beyond the national numbers to focus on how the energy transition is playing out in the states, with help from ICN graphic artist Paul Horn.
Texas stands out as the country’s renewable energy leader, when measured by gigawatt-hours of electricity generated.The runner-up is California, which leads in solar power but has little wind power.
When It Comes to a Climate Bill, Time is of the Essence
Opinion
While the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which focuses in large part on roads and bridges, works its way through Congress, Americans are left to wonder whether our elected officials will "faithfully discharge the duties of the office" and use the budget reconciliation process to address an issue that was apparently not a high priority in the 2021 bill: climate change.
You don't have to travel far from your front door to experience the myriad tendrils of anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming. For months now, the western U.S. has been in the throes of a massive, climate-related drought punctuated with unprecedented heat waves and catastrophic wildfires. Headlines like "Supercharged by climate change, 'megadrought' points to drier future in the West" and "Portland records all-time high temperature of 116, setting new record for third day in a row" have become ubiquitous in the summer of 2021. Even those of us on the periphery of the West's worst impacts are left to deal with waves of acrid and unhealthy wildfire smoke.
Exxon suspended from climate advocacy group it helped form
Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) was suspended from advocacy group Climate Leadership Council (CLC) that looks to make policies to address climate change, the CLC said on Friday.
The move comes a little over a month after an Exxon lobbyist said the company supports a carbon tax publicly because the plan to curb climate change would never gain enough political support to be adopted. Exxon Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods had condemned the comments. read more
"After careful consideration, we have decided to suspend ExxonMobil's membership in both the Council and Americans for Carbon Dividends, our advocacy arm," CLC CEO Greg Bertelsen said in a statement.
We’re on the brink of catastrophe, warns Tory climate chief
The world will soon face “catastrophe” from climate breakdown if urgent action is not taken, the British president of vital UN climate talks has warned.
Alok Sharma, the UK minister in charge of the Cop26 talks to be held in Glasgow this November, told the Observer that the consequences of failure would be “catastrophic”: “I don’t think there’s any other word for it. You’re seeing on a daily basis what is happening across the world. Last year was the hottest on record, the last decade the hottest decade on record.”
But Sharma also insisted the UK could carry on with fossil-fuel projects, in the face of mounting criticism of plans to license new oil and gas fields. He defended the government’s record on plans to reach net zero emissions by 2050, which have been heavily criticised by the UK’s independent Committee on Climate Change, and dismissed controversies over his travel schedule.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading authority on climate science, will publish a comprehensive report on Monday showing how close humanity is to the brink of potentially irreversible disaster caused by extreme weather.
Which country is the world leader in renewable energy in 2021?
Norway is the country with the highest share of renewable energy in the world, according to new data.
A study by energy tariff comparison platform Utility Bidder reveals the top 20 countries in the clean energy field, as well as those which rely most on fossil fuels.
The fossil fuels measured were coal, oil and natural gas, while renewable sources were biofuels and waste, wind, solar and hydro. The figures were sourced from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Climate scientists warn: Gulf Stream in state of collapse - study
The AMOC, which contains the Gulf Stream, is currently at its weakest state in over 1,000 years, and new evidence has indicated that it could already be nearing complete shutdown.
Climate scientists have detected early warning signs that the Gulf Stream is in a state of collapse, indicating that it may have already been losing stability over the last century, which could lead to severe consequences for the climate, a new study reported.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a major Atlantic ocean current, to which the
Gulf Stream belongs, and at the top of the ocean it transports warm water masses from the tropics northward, while cold water is transported south, at the ocean bottom. It influences weather systems worldwide, making the consequences of a potential collapse all the more dangerous.
Climate change: New report will highlight 'stark reality' of warming
UN researchers are set to publish their strongest statement yet on the science of climate change.
The report will likely detail significant changes to the world's oceans, ice caps and land in the coming decades.
It will be their first global assessment on the science of global heating since 2013.
It is expected the forthcoming Summary for Policymakers will be a key document for global leaders when they meet in November.
The politicians are due to gather for a climate summit, known as COP26, in Glasgow.
Warming Trends: Penguins in Trouble, More About the Dead Zone and Does Your Building Hold Climate Secrets?
Emperor penguin populations are mostly healthy and strong, at the moment. But climate change threatens to drive these sea ice-dependent birds to extinction by the end of the century. Because of global warming, they could soon become the latest species to be listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Research has shown that populations could decline by 47 percent by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current levels, and could be virtually eliminated by 2100. The birds breed and raise their chicks on thick Antarctic sea ice, but ice in some areas has declined by 60 percent, and ice melt is projected to quickly increase throughout the century.
Stephanie Jenouvrier, a seabird ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has spent decades researching emperor penguins, and her work, including a study published in Global Change Biology this week, has informed the Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to list the species as “threatened” under the ESA.
Saudi Arabia’s first wind farm begins electricity production
Saudi Arabia’s first wind farm has been connected to the grid and began producing carbon-free electricity, local media reported.
Dumat al-Jandal is the region’s largest wind farm, and is made up of 99 wind turbines, each with the capacity to generate electricity for up to 70,000 homes in the kingdom, Saudi Arabia-based Al Arabiya reported.
The 400-megawatt (MW) utility-scale wind power project is being developed by a group led by EDF Renewables and Masdar, two of the world’s leading renewable energy companies.
The project has created more than 600 jobs during the construction phase only, according to Al Arabiya.
NASA Helps Firefighters By Sending Pics From International Space Station to Show Key Spots of Moving Wildfires
ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station— is measuring surface temperature from the vantage point of space, with the ability to observe fires at a high spatial resolution (around 70 meters), making it ideal for tracking fires.
Researchers on the RADR-Fire team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have been experimenting with ECOSTRESS data as part of a new tool now being implemented for first responders like the U.S. Forest Service.
In one instance, ECOSTRESS was tracking the movement of the Bootleg Fire and identifying its proximity to critical infrastructure. Areas in red represent the hottest pixels ECOSTRESS can detect. The extreme heat in the red areas indicate the fire front, or where resources are most needed.
Climate Brief aims to ensure the Daily Kos community is informed and engaged in the most up-to-date news about the climate crisis around the world. We also strive to provide inspirational and action-driven content, covering the intersection of the arts, spirituality, and climate activism.