Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran reported a heat index of 152°F (66.7°C) today at 12:30 pm.
Scott Dance, Washington Post »
Category: Climate, Environment & Pollution (Page 4 of 10)
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.
Tree.FM »
The prior all-time high occurred in 1989, when 7.3 million hectares were burned over the course of an entire year, according to national figures from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).
Soaring levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and an unusual band of strong winds that have hovered high over the Atlantic have already triggered heatwaves in Texas, Greece, Spain, Italy, and a host of other nations.
Red weather alerts have been issued across Europe; wildfires are raging in Croatia, on the Adriatic coast, and in Navarra in Spain; while tourist targets such as the Acropolis have been closed as temperatures have soared into the forties.
Hamilton transit ridership is close to pre-pandemic levels for the first time since COVID-19 emptied HSR buses three years ago.
More than 1.5 million riders hopped on an HSR bus last month — or about 94 per cent of the pre-pandemic ridership recorded in June of 2019, which is considered the city’s “benchmark” year before COVID.
AP »
Majorities of adults say U.S. laws and policies do a poor job of representing what most Americans want on issues ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion. The poll shows 53% say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16% who say it’s doing a good job.
The findings illustrate widespread political alienation as a polarized country limps out of the pandemic and into a recovery haunted by inflation and fears of a recession. In interviews, respondents worried less about the machinery of democracy — voting laws and the tabulation of ballots — and more about the outputs.
Soaring hurricane-cover premiums and Ron DeSantis are bad news for the Florida’s homeowners.
After at least six insurers went insolvent in Florida last year, Farmers on Tuesday became the latest to pull out of the Florida market, saying in a statement that the decision was based on risk exposure in the hurricane-prone state.
Climate change is threatening the very existence of some parts of Florida. And the costs are already being felt by Floridians. At the end of 2022, average annual property insurance premiums had already risen to more than $4,200 in Florida – three times the national average.
NY Times »
In a world where the risk of costly disasters is rising but high premiums are squeezing policyholders and angering state regulators, how can they continue to make money?
That question was at the center of the decision by Farmers Insurance this week to stop renewing almost a third of the policies it has written in Florida, becoming the latest insurer to pull business from a state as the industry grapples with the rising costs of covering damage tied to floods, hurricanes, wildfires and other climate-related disasters.
An oil refinery in northern Alberta that started processing oil 22 years ago is facing an enforcement order for operating without regulatory approval.
CBC »
The Enerchem plant was never granted approval under Alberta’s Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), according to the order issued June 20.
The order states that no approval “has been issued to any person for the construction, operation and reclamation of the plant,” in contravention of the act.
Under the conditions set out in the order, the oil fractionation plant, 250 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, can continue operating while the owner, Calgary-based AltaGas, seeks approval from the province.
Experts in environmental law say the infraction is troubling evidence of cracks in Alberta’s complex regulatory system and undermines its approvals process.
Air monitors installed on street poles across the city of Hamilton found concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene higher or much higher than health guideline recommendations. Long-term exposure to BaP can significantly increase cancer risk.
Residents of Hamilton, Ontario could be inhaling the BaP equivalent a couple of cigarettes per week, every week.
The largest air-monitoring experiment in city history has found unhealthy levels of a cancer-linked contaminant across Hamilton — including in neighbourhoods kilometres away from polluting bayfront industries.
The results suggest coal-fired steelmaking pollutants like benzo(a)pyrene travel far beyond the lower city and pose “an even greater (health) impact than we may have expected,” said Matthew Adams, an urban air-quality expert who is co-ordinating the study alongside city staff.
A promised cut in coal use by Hamilton’s biggest steelmaker should eventually help clear the air — but not before 2028.
The Canadian Press via National Observer »
A University of Toronto professor says residents of Hamilton, Ont., could be inhaling the chemical equivalent of one or two cigarettes per week — at minimum — due to elevated levels of a cancer-causing compound in the air.
Statistics Canada says the new visualization tool presents the most recent data available from the Census of Population for census subdivisions.
This is yet another argument to keep AM Radio alive and vibrant. In times of emergency, they are ubiquitous, signals can travel great distances, they don’t need an internet connection, and best of all their signals are not controlled by self-serving, far-right, maniacal personalities.
A B.C. government Twitter account updating residents about driving conditions reached its tweet limit on a weekend it was sharing information about wildfire evacuations.
The incident, which occurred earlier this month, prompted the Ministry of Transportation’s DriveBC account to issue a warning.
“HEADS UP – As many others have this weekend, @DriveBC on Twitter and its sub accounts have exceeded the temporarily imposed post rate limit,” tweeted the ministry account July 2.
BBC »
More than 115 million people are under some form of heat warnings, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
Phoenix has experienced 13 days of temperatures of at least 43C (110F) and is forecast to surpass its 18-day record of over 43C heat next Tuesday.
Related » The Guardian | Axios | Al Jazeera
Meanwhile » The Guardian » MAGA Republicans oppose climate funding as millions suffer in extreme weather
UN »
Last year global public debt reached a record $92 trillion, of which developing countries shoulder 30 per cent – a “disproportionate amount”, the UN chief stressed.
He warned that 3.3 billion people suffer from their governments’ need to prioritize debt interest payments over “essential investments” in the Sustainable Development Goals or the energy transition.
“And yet, because these unsustainable debts are concentrated in poor countries, they are not judged to pose a systemic risk to the global financial system,” the UN Secretary-General added.
Property losses are staggering. The governor said thousands of Vermonters have lost homes and businesses. But with people still being pulled from homes and vehicles, the focus right now is on getting them to higher ground.
Related » The Guardian | VOX | Euronews | NY Times | The Atlantic » Boiling the Ocean | BBC | CBC | Grist
“It’s not just a figment of your imagination, and it’s not because everybody now has a smartphone,” said Jeff Berardelli, the chief meteorologist and climate specialist for WFLA News in Tampa. “We’ve seen an increase in extreme weather. This without a doubt is happening.”
It is likely to get more extreme. This year, a powerful El Niño developing in the Pacific Ocean is poised to unleash additional heat into the atmosphere, fueling yet more severe weather around the globe.
“We are going to see stuff happen this year around Earth that we have not seen in modern history,” Mr. Berardelli said.
If you are a Prime Member, hurry on over as the made-up holiday ends July 12 at 11:50pm Pacific. 🙃
Note » The linked article in The Guardian is paid for by the University of Derby in the UK.
“We need to appreciate that it can be challenging for people adapting to new technologies and we must consider them as part of the solution as well as just the engineering solution itself,” says Chris Sansom, professor of concentrating solar power at the University of Derby, whose research focuses on finding solutions for cleaner energy across the globe.
Sansom notes that zero carbon research is concerned with many different elements. The University of Derby has a range of leading experts exploring zero carbon in relation to decarbonising manufacturing and business processes, generating low-carbon renewable energy, transporting people by zero carbon means, as well as understanding natural processes for greenhouse gas removal. “While these may provide the scientific solutions we need, a number of things can get in the way of that,” he says – such as the challenges for local residents and other people who struggle to adapt.
Global sea surface temperatures reached record highs in May, June, and July of this year – and the warming El Niño weather pattern is only just getting started, said experts at the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
UN »
“We are actually at the beginning of that process, so El Niño hasn’t had as much of an effect as it is going to later in the year. So, we’re seeing these high temperatures in the North Atlantic…despite the fact that El Niño hasn’t really got going yet.”
According to the WMO’s Mr. Baddour, the warmest year is expected to be post-2023, when El Niño is expected to pick up. A record year in 2024 is likely, if the strength of El Niño continues to develop in line with forecasts.
Today, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, and the Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, released a statement confirming Canada’s position on seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Bloomberg »
It’s a scene that is steadily being replicated all over the Nordic country, offering a glimpse of what may be in store for drivers the world over in the years ahead.
When it comes to electric vehicles, Norway is very much a trailblazer. It has moved much more rapidly away from the internal combustion engine than its neighbors thanks to generous tax breaks and incentives, which made Tesla Inc.’s battery-powered Model Y cost competitive with a gasoline-burning Toyota Motor Corp. RAV4.
Most countries can’t afford to move quite as fast as wealthy Norway — the nation’s government estimates that various supports measures cost it some $1.8 billion annually in lost revenue. But the International Energy Agency says the rest of the world is going in the same direction, bringing peak oil demand before the end of the decade.