IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: U.S. is warming faster than the rest of the globe and every region is affected, National Climate Assessment warns; U.S. and China agree to work together to displace fossil fuels and tackle the climate crisis; PLUS: Biden Administration releases new funding to strengthen climate resilience across the nation... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Brazil: Health warnings as country gripped by 'unbearable' heatwave; New York sues PepsiCo over plastic bottles and wrappers that pollute clean water; Two studies on Greenland reveal ominous signs for sea level rise; Canada says it can fight climate change and be major oil nation. Massive fires may force a reckoning; Somalia floods: Bodies unearthed and bridges swept away; COP28 Host UAE has world's biggest climate-busting oil plans, data show... PLUS: How to electrify your life when you rent... and much, MUCH more! ...
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...
- UN: Nations' climate plans are insufficient to reach 1.5C target:
- Countries' emissions plans put the world ‘wildly off track’ to contain global heating, UN assessment shows (CNN/MSN):
The UN has found that even if countries enact all of their current climate pledges, planet-heating pollution in 2030 will still be 9% higher than it was in 2010...[T]he world needs to decrease emissions by 45% by the end of this decade. - What to know about today’s three big climate reports (Washington Post):
If fully implemented, current NDCs would lead to a 9 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 compared to 2010 levels, the report found...It's still far short of the consistent 43 percent decreases needed to meet the 1.5-degree target. - Nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement [PDF] (UNFCCC/COP28)
- Efforts insufficient to attain Paris agreement goals: UN (Hindustan Times)
- Report: Climate-warming gases reached record highs in 2022:
- Climate-heating gases reach record highs, UN reports (Guardian)
- Greenhouse gases soared to another record and there’s ‘no end in sight’ (Washington Post/MSN):
There is "no end in sight" for growth in greenhouse gas emissions, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned, reporting that global concentrations for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide climbed to new highs last year. The emissions of these heat-trapping gases broke records as the planet continued on a trajectory that scientists have said will probably lead to major and irreversible damage to ecosystems and communities. - The State of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere Based on Global Observations through 2022 (WMO)
- 5th National Climate Assessment: U.S. warming faster than rest of planet, impacts accelerating:
- Fifth National Climate Assessment (U.S. Global Change Research Program)
- Worsening warming is hurting people in all regions, US climate assessment shows (AP)
- VIDEO: No place in the US is safe from the climate crisis, but a new report shows where it’s most severe (CNN)
- Climate impacts in the U.S. are 'far-reaching and worsening,' federal report finds (Washington Post):
Climate change has claimed lives and upended livelihoods in every region of the United States, but its severe toll has prompted parts of the country to respond faster and more creatively than ever, according to a major government report released Tuesday. - VIDEO: Katharine Hayhoe on New US Climate Assessment (Climate Crocks)
- Dr. Leah Stokes: "We have the technologies we need to tackle the climate crisis" (Dr. Leah Stokes, Twitter)
- AUDIO: Climate change affects your life in 3 big ways, a new report warns (NPR):
This is the first time the assessment includes standalone chapters about climate change's toll on the American economy, as well as the complex social factors driving climate change and the nation's responses..."Climate change affects us all, but it doesn't affect us all equally," says climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, one of the authors of the assessment. - VIDEO: Who's to blame for climate change? Scientists don't hold back in new federal report. (USA Today)
- Interactive: ATLAS of the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5)
- U.S., China agree to work together to tackle the climate crisis:
- US and China agree to displace fossil fuels by ramping up renewables (Carbon Brief)
- U.S. and China Agree to Displace Fossil Fuels by Ramping Up Renewables (NY Times):
But both countries agreed to "pursue efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030." That growth should reach levels high enough "so as to accelerate the substitution for coal, oil and gas generation," the agreement says. Both countries anticipate "meaningful absolute power sector emission reduction" in this decade, it says. That appears to be the first time China has agreed to cut emissions in any part of its economy. - What a U.S.-China Climate Deal Means for COP28 (NY Times):
The deal between the U.S. and China could deliver a jolt of ambition ahead of the global talks...China's willingness to address methane, a step it has long resisted, is particularly notable. While it has agreed in principle to cut methane, it has not previously said it will establish concrete targets. - Biden releases $6 billion in new climate resilience funding:
- VIDEO: Biden 'just getting started' on climate action in response to major new report (ABC News/MSN)
- Biden Administration Announces More Than $6B to Strengthen Climate Change Resilience (The Messenger)
- VIDEO: President Biden Delivers Remarks on his Administration's Actions to Address the Climate Crisis (White House/YouTube)
- Transcript: Remarks by President Biden on Actions to Address the Climate Crisis (White House)
'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...
For a comprehensive roundup of daily environmental news you can trust, see the Society of Environmental Journalists' Daily Headlines page
- Brazil: Health warnings as country gripped by 'unbearable' heatwave (BBC)
- New York sues PepsiCo over plastic bottles and wrappers that pollute clean water (MarketWatch)
- How to electrify your life when you rent (The Verge)
- Two Studies on Greenland Reveal Ominous Signs for Sea Level Rise (NY Times)
- Canada says it can fight climate change and be major oil nation. Massive fires may force a reckoning (AP)
- Somalia floods: Bodies unearthed and bridges swept away (BBC)
- Valley Fever: "An Invisible Killer" (Washington Post)
- COP28 Host UAE Has World’s Biggest Climate-Busting Oil Plans, Data Show (Guardian)
- Does The Amazon's Drought Mean The Forest Is At A Tipping Point? (Thompson Reuters Foundation)
- Worsening Sand, Dust Storms Driving Global Land Loss, Says UN (Reuters)
- 2 Grim Reports On Global Climate Highlight Fossil Fuel Subsidies, Ill Health (AP)
- Toxic Gunk Cleansed From South Carolina's Congaree River 13 Years Later (The State)
- US Supreme Court Denies Request By Oil Firms To Halt Coastal Erosion Suit (NOLA)
- The trillion-dollar quest to make green steel (Canary Media)
- Rising Temperatures Are Wreaking Havoc Year-Round (gift link, Bloomberg)
- Rough years ahead [as new El Nino arrives] (Nature)
- Complete Series: Farmers Under Attack for Supporting Clean Energy (Climate Crocks)
- These are the places most at risk from record-breaking heat waves as the planet warms (CNN)
- Building Steam in Lithium Valley (The American Prospect)
- Feeling Overwhelmed About Going All-Electric at Home? Here's How to Get Started (Inside Climate News)
- VIDEO: See what three degrees of global warming looks like (The Economist/YouTube)
- The 7 climate tipping points that could change the world forever (Grist)
- The 1977 White House climate memo that should have changed the world (Guardian UK)
- Four solutions to mitigate climate change, from the IPCC (Dr. Michael Mann, Penn Today)
- Environmental Sacrifice Zones: 8 Places We've Given Up-Probably Forever (Environmental Health Network)
- Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
- VIDEO: 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis (Guardian UK)
- 99.9 percent Of Scientists Agree Climate Emergency Caused By Humans (Guardian UK)
- Climate Fund Choices for Investors Are Multiplying (Bloomberg/Yahoo)
- How climate change could undo 50 years of public health gains (Grist)
- Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration (Pro Publica)
- Exxon's Snake Oil: 100 years of deception (Columbia Journalism Review)
- VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
- What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like: How to hit the most stringent targets, with no loopholes. (David Roberts, Vox)
- A Global Shift To Sustainability Would Save Us $26 Trillion (Vox)
- Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
- An Optimist's Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
- The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
- The world's bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
- The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate - so every reduction in emissions helps. - The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak - sooner than you think. - A beginner's guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it's possible for the whole world to run on renewables - we merely lack the "political will." So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.