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Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
NPR »
A majority of respondents – 53% – said addressing climate change should be given priority even at the risk of slowing the economy. That included 80% of Democrats and 54% of independents.
But almost three-quarters of Republicans (72%) said the economy should be given priority, even at the risk of ignoring climate change. That is up 13 points since 2018 – despite the increases in climate-change-related weather disasters.
The Guardian (2018) »
The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world.
The new analysis shows that while meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories and 37% of protein, it uses the vast majority – 83% – of farmland and produces 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.
LA Times »
More than 25% of all new vehicles sold in the last quarter were EVs, according to the California Energy Commission, with sales for the three-month period totaling 125,939.
California has sold more than 1.6 million electric vehicles to date and accounts for 34% of all EV sales in the country, according to a market report by the nonprofit Veloz, which raises awareness about electric vehicles.
California leads the nation in promoting electric vehicle sales, having invested more than $5 billion to transition the state away from gas-powered vehicles.
“The genie’s out of the bottle: working from home is something that is staying well beyond COVID and the pandemic,” said Melissa Donnelly, the Community and Public Sector Union secretary who negotiated the Australian federal agreement.
The lack of a commute to and from work, the reduced need for heating and cooling separate spaces that are only temporarily occupied over the course of a day, would mean employees would also have a reduced carbon footprint.
The lack of a commute means less time spent in traffic congestions, which also translates to employees who are less stress and more productive.
This is the era of global boiling.
BBC »
Parts of the US itself are so hot that doctors are treating patients for burn injuries after falling on pavements. More than 5,000 heat records have been broken or tied in the US in recent weeks, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
Phoenix, Arizona has had more than 25 days in a row of temperatures above 43C (110F), shattering the past record of 18 days, while fierce storms caused flooding in Vermont.
Accuweather | CNN |
A red meat allergy caused by tick bites is an emerging public health concern, according to two new studies from the CDC.
ABC News »
Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is a serious, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that arises after people eat red meat or consume products with alpha-gal, a type of sugar found in most mammals, the CDC says.
The syndrome is typically caused by a bite from the lone star tick, which transfers alpha-gal into the victim’s body which in turn triggers an immune system response.
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First came the hottest June in recorded history. Now it’s the hottest-ever July.
Copernicus Climate Change Service »
Following the hottest June on record and a series of extreme weather events, including heatwaves in Europe, North America and Asia, and wildfires in Canada and Greece, ERA5 data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service show that the first three weeks of July have already broken several significant records.
30 Hottest Days on Record
This means that the first three weeks of the month was the warmest three-week period on record. During the first and third weeks, temperatures also temporarily exceeded the 1.5°C threshold above preindustrial level – a limit set in the Paris Agreement.
“Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning,” Guterres said. “It is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C [above pre-industrial levels], and avoid the very worst of climate change. But only with dramatic, immediate climate action.”
Guterres’s comments came after scientists confirmed on Thursday that the past three weeks have been the hottest since records began and July is on track to be the hottest month ever recorded.
Heat waves appeared to pose a greater threat in general than cold snaps. Depending on the temperature and duration of extreme heat, for instance, the associated increased risk of death ranged from 18% to 74%, while the increased risk of cold days ranged from 4% to 12%. The highest associated risk was seen on days of extreme heat and heavy fine pollution, with heart attack deaths being roughly twice as likely to occur on these days than usual. Women and older adults also seemed to be more vulnerable than others. The team’s findings were published Monday in the journal Circulation.
These results can only show a correlation between extreme weather and heart attack deaths, not a clear cause-and-effect relationship. But this is only the latest research to suggest that very hot and cold days can be harmful to people’s health and hearts. Other studies have found that heart attacks in general become more common during extreme weather events. That said, there’s been less research looking at the impact of extreme weather on the risk of dying from a heart attack, according to the authors. This current study also suggests that extreme heat and pollution can have a synergistic effect on heart attack mortality.
CBC |
Related » The Guardian | National Observer | Le Monde | NY Times | France 24 | Euronews
Euronews »
The new study by World Weather Attribution – a research group comprised of international climatologists – has found that the deadly hot spells in the American Southwest and Southern Europe could not have happened without the continuing build up of warming gases in the air.
These unusually strong heat waves are becoming more common, Tuesday’s study said. The same research found the increase in heat-trapping gases, largely from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas has made another heat wave — the one in China — 50 times more likely with the potential to occur every five years or so.
A stagnant atmosphere, warmed by carbon dioxide and other gases, also made the European heat wave 2.5 degrees Celsius hotter, the one in the United States and Mexico 2 degrees Celsius warmer and the one in China one 1 degree Celsius hotter, the study found.
Eve Ottenberg, Counter Punch »
The problem is known. It has been known for generations, to scientists and to the oil, gas and coal companies who researched and then concealed the lethal effects of their product. Simply put, our social and political economy, structured around burning fossil fuels, heats the earth. The chief culprits in this profligate burning are wealthy countries and their massive organizations like the American military. Small, poor countries have small carbon footprints. This deadly pollution cannot be blamed on them or their so-called excessive birth-rate.
Global warming. Pollution. Greenhouse gases. Environment.
BBC »
Studies are under way, but scientists already fear some worst-case scenarios are unfolding.
“I’m not aware of a similar period when all parts of the climate system were in record-breaking or abnormal territory,” Thomas Smith, an environmental geographer at London School of Economics, says.
“The Earth is in uncharted territory” now due to global warming from burning fossil fuels, as well as heat from the first El Niño – a warming natural weather system – since 2018, says Imperial College London climate science lecturer Dr Paulo Ceppi.
Designed in France by rolling stock manufacturer Alstom, the zero-emissions train runs on electricity produced by mixing hydrogen with oxygen, meaning that moisture its only waste product. Alstom said Europe has already placed an order for 41 hydrogen trains.
As anyone who’s experienced the weather lately knows, the situation is already bad. The world had its hottest week on record at the start of the month, according to preliminary data, with heatwaves still smashing local records across the Northern Hemisphere. And that’s just one way climate change is bringing on dangerous new extremes.
Today, the planet is about 1.1 degrees Celsius hotter than it was before the Industrial Revolution, thanks to carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. It’s what’s driving more intense heatwaves, wildfires, storms, and sea level rise. That’s why world leaders agreed, as part of the landmark Paris agreement, to keep the planet from warming much more than it already has. Every fraction of a degree comes with more severe consequences.
Vienna has retained its crown as the world’s most liveable city, according to Economist’s annual index.
The 2023 Global Liveability Index quantifies the challenges presented to an individual’s lifestyle and standard of living in 173 cities worldwide. The 2023 Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual ranking has also included three Canadian cities among the worlds top 10 most liveable. Australia and Switzerland each have 2 entries. Denmark, Japan, and New Zealand each had one city in the top rankings.
1. Vienna 🇦🇹
2. Copenhagen 🇩🇰
3. Melbourne 🇦🇺
4. Sydney 🇦🇺
5. Vancouver 🇨🇦
6. Zurich 🇨🇭
7. Calgary 🇨🇦 (tie)
7. Geneva 🇨🇭 (tie)
9. Toronto 🇨🇦
10. Osaka 🇯🇵 (tie)
10. Auckland 🇳🇿 (tie)
NY Times »
The agency also predicts unusually hot temperatures will occur in most of the United States, almost everywhere except the northern Great Plains, during August. The first two weeks of July were also likely the Earth’s warmest on human record, for any time of year, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Many daily temperature records were set in June across the Southern United States, particularly in Texas and Louisiana. Temperatures in Laredo, Texas, reached 100 degrees on more than 20 days in June. Austin, El Paso and San Antonio reached triple digits on more than 10 days each. The heat index, which also accounts for humidity, was well past 100 much of the time in all of these cities. Extreme heat can be dangerous for anyone’s body, but older people and outdoor workers are at particular risk. Summer heat waves in Europe last year may have killed 61,000 people across the continent, according to a recent study. This year’s heat and humidity have been devastating in northern Mexico, where more than 100 people have died of heat-related causes, according to reports from the federal health ministry.
NASA say the extreme temperatures across continents are no surprise, that there’s a “50-50 chance” that 2023 will be the hottest year on record, with next year likely even warmer.
DW | Al Jazeera | EuroActive | France 24 |
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