25 juin 2021 'We Are in a Climate Emergency': As Temps Soar, Over 90% of Western US Gripped by Drought. Over 90% of the U.S.
West is currently experiencing drought, federal authorities said Thursday, amid warnings of "unprecedented and dangerous heat" heading to the Pacific Northwest and fresh declarations that humanity is in the midst of a climate emergency. According to the latest U.S. 25 juin 2021 Heat waves can be life-threatening. One of the most extreme heat waves ever recorded baked the American West last week, with 40 million Americans affected by temperatures soaring above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Deemed a “mega-heat wave,” it broke temperature records over a century old. And it’s not over yet — this weekend is projected to bring another historic heat wave to the Pacific Northwest, with temperatures forecasted at about 30 degrees F above average, breaking 100 degrees F in Seattle, Portland, and Spokane. A mega-heat wave in the middle of a decades-long megadrought is the reality of climate change in the American West. 24 juin 2021 #RDLS142 - Rapport du GIEC / Régionales / #EnnemiDeLaRépublique. 22 juin 2021 The fairly complicated truth about bitcoin's energy use. 18 juin 2021 'Historic': Belgium Court Says Inadequate Climate Policy a Human Rights Violation. Climate campaigners claimed a "historic victory" after a Brussels court on Thursday condemned Belgium for its climate policy that breaches the country's duty of care and human rights obligations.
The verdict from the Court of First Instance followed a six-year legal battle first launched by non-profit group Klimaatzaak (Climate Case) representing over 58,000 citizens. According to the Guardian: "By not taking all 'necessary measures' to prevent the 'detrimental' effects of climate change, the court said, Belgian authorities had breached the right to life (article 2) and the right to respect for private and family life (article 8)" of the European Convention on Human Rights. The federal government and those of three regions—the Brussels-Capital, the Flemish, and the Walloon regions—had "not behaved as generally prudent and diligent authorities, which constitutes an offense," reported Agence France-Presse. 18 juin 2021 'Surreal' and 'Distressing': Climate Experts' Predictions Come True With US Heatwave. As what the National Weather Service described as "dangerous and record-breaking heat" affects 50 million people across the Western United States even before the first day of summer, climate experts and activists are using the hot conditions to reiterate warnings and calls for policy change as scientists are seeing their dire predictions come true.
"The current heatwave and drought leave no doubt, we are living the dangerous effects of the climate crisis," activist and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer tweeted Friday. "Action is urgently needed. " Steyer shared a Thursday New York Times report on the extreme heat that also caught the attention of Campaign for Nature director Brian O'Donnell, who warned that in the absence of bold action to address the climate emergency, "this will all get much worse. " "We'e still a long way out from the peak of the wildfire season and the peak of the dry season," Swain told the Times.
16 juin 2021 Record Heat and Flimsy Power Grid Across US Illustrates Urgent Need for Green Infrastructure. With states across the southern and western United States facing record high temperatures weeks before the hottest months of the year, scientists and progressive lawmakers on Wednesday doubled down on calls for green infrastructure to ensure the nation is prepared for increasing levels of extreme weather on a rapidly warming planet.
For the second time in four months, state regulators in Texas on Monday warned residents that the demand for energy was straining the state's power grid, asking millions to set their thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, turn off lights, and avoid washing clothes and cooking. "If we talk about infrastructure without considering how that infrastructure needs to match the climate conditions from today on into the future, then we're building something that won't stand a chance. " —Julie McNamara, Union of Concerned Scientists Rep. 16 juin 2021 Salad will survive climate change. But at what cost?
Braddock, Pennsylvania is not what most people would call a farm town.
White plumes of methanol, ammonia, zinc, and manganese billow throughout the day from its last remaining steel mill, while cars and pickups and freight trucks roar back and forth across the nearby Rankin Bridge. Despite its diminutive size, the town is well-known in the Pittsburgh region for its air quality, which ranks among the worst in the nation for year-round dust, soot, and smoke pollution.
And yet, inside a wide, windowless warehouse set just a block or two back from the banks of the Monongahela River, thousands of tender, young plants are thriving beneath a gleaming roof and complex HVAC system that shields them from both the azure sky and the effluence of the adjacent smokestacks. The company Fifth Season is responsible for tending to this farm, though the startup’s use of “farm” certainly stretches traditional definitions.
15 juin 2021 Norwegian 'People vs. Arctic Oil' Case Heads to European Human Rights Court. After repeated rulings from Norwegian courts that the nation's oil policy does not violate its constitution, six young climate activists and two environmental groups on Tuesday announced an application for a related case to the European Court of Human Rights.
"Our application to the European Court of Human Rights is for me the manifestation of action and hope in the face of this crisis. "—Mia Cathryn Chamberlain, plaintiff The activists—ages 20 to 27—along with Young Friends of the Earth Norway and Greenpeace Nordic are now arguing that Norwegian Arctic oil drilling violates Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (pdf), which outline the right to life and right to respect for private and family life, respectively.
"Within these two articles, the ECtHR has previously interpreted a right to protection from environmental harm," Greenpeace noted on a webpage for the case, referencing the court. The "People vs. 15 juin 2021 Share of Fossil Fuels in Global Energy Mix 'Has Not Moved by an Inch' in a Decade. Despite the growing necessity of transitioning to renewable energy, the share of fossil fuels in the world's total energy mix barely changed during a recent decade, according to a report released Tuesday by the Paris-based think tank REN21.
"The share of fossil fuels in final energy consumption has not moved by an inch. "—Rana Adib, REN21 "We are waking up to the bitter reality that the climate policy promises over the past 10 years have mostly been empty words," said REN21 executive director Rana Adib. "The share of fossil fuels in final energy consumption has not moved by an inch," Adib added. 14 juin 2021 Les pays du G20 responsables à 80% des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. 11-14 juin 2021 Aux quatre coins du monde, déjà la fournaise. 10-12 juin 2021 Montée des eaux : un repli inévitable mais des outils juridiques introuvables. 8-12 juin 2021 Hauts-de-France, Lacanau, Camargue… la montée des eaux devient critique. 11-14 juin 2021 Aux quatre coins du monde, déjà la fournaise. 11-12 juin 2021 Face à la montée des eaux, s’adapter plutôt que bétonner. 9-11 juin 2021 Montée des eaux en France : les prévisions alarmantes des scientifiques. 11 juin 2021 United's supersonic planes would be a 'massively polluting' disaster.
The era of supersonic flights supposedly ended nearly two decades ago.
The Concorde — a 100-passenger jet that could cruise at 1,300 miles an hour and reach London from New York in a mere three and a half hours — made its swan song flight on October 24, 2004. In 27 years in service, it struggled to turn a profit and faced rising safety concerns after a devastating crash in 2000. 9 juin 2021 'Keystone XL Is Dead!': After 10-Year Battle, Climate Movement Victory Is Complete.
After more than a decade of grassroots organizing, agitation, and tireless opposition by the international climate movement, the final nail was slammed into the Keystone XL's coffin Wednesday afternoon when the company behind the transnational tar sands pipeline officially pulled the plug on its plans.
"This victory is thanks to Indigenous land defenders who fought the Keystone XL pipeline for over a decade. " —Clayton Thomas Muller, 350.org Following consultation with Canadian officials and regulators—including "its partner, the Government of Alberta"—TC Energy confirmed its "termination" of the project in a statement citing the revocation of a federal U.S. permit by President Joe Biden on his first day in office on January 20 as the leading reason. Climate campaigners, however, were immediate in claiming a final victory after years of struggle against the company and its backers both in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa.
8 juin 2021 Ban Ki-moon wants to solve the climate crisis with kindness. On video chat, Ban Ki-moon is almost preternaturally kind. “Thank you for your interest in my life story and my philosophy,” he says, smiling serenely. At 76, the former secretary-general of the United Nations — who completed his final term in December 2016 — still wears the rimless glasses familiar from thousands of news wire photos.
7 juin 2021 Ticks are out of control this year — it's not just your imagination. Not long ago, I went on a walk with some friends through a field near my house in upstate New York. When we stopped for a break, something moving on my pants caught my eye. There were about a dozen reddish-brown ticks crawling up my legs. I looked closer and found ticks tangled in my socks, latched on to the insides of my shoes, hanging by hooked legs to the backs of my knees. The big ones, American dog ticks, were easy to spot, but the little ones, blacklegged nymph ticks the size of poppy seeds, were harder to find.
I was still pulling them off of me days later. 7 juin 2021 Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Hits Highest Level in Over 4 Million Years. New data released Monday showed atmospheric carbon dioxide reached a monthly average level of 419 parts per million in May, which is not only the maximum reading ever recorded since accurate measurements began 63 years ago but also the highest level the planet has experienced in over four million years. "The solution is right before our eyes. Solar energy and wind are already cheaper than fossil fuels and they work at the scales that are required. If we take real action soon, we might still be able to avoid catastrophic climate change.
" —Pieter Tans, NOAA "During that time, sea level was about 78 feet higher than today, the average temperature was 7°F higher than in pre-industrial times, and studies indicate large forests occupied areas of the Arctic that are now tundra," they said.