News: Archive for September, 2021
‘Forests on multiple continents went up in smoke, spewing out billions of tons of carbon dioxide, new data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service shows. In July, wildfires emitted nearly 1.3 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, a record that was topped by August’s 1.4 gigatons. Between the two months, forest fires emitted an amount of carbon dioxide greater than all of India’s carbon emissions in a year.’
Source: Wildfires Emitted More Carbon Dioxide Than India Does in a Year
‘…Experts say deforestation in the Amazon, along with rain patterns altered by a warming planet, are helping fuel the drought. Much of the humidity that turns into the rain that feeds tributaries of the Paraná originates in the Amazon rainforest, where trees release water vapor in a process scientists call “flying rivers.”’
Source: An Economic Lifeline in South America, the Paraná River, Is Shriveling – The New York Times
‘WASHINGTON — As the country reels from the cascade of deaths and devastation wrought by this summer’s record floods, heat waves, droughts and wildfires, President Biden and progressive Democrats are using the moment to push for aggressive climate provisions in a sweeping $3.5 trillion budget bill.’
Source: After a Summer of Disasters, Some Lawmakers See a Chance for Climate Action – The New York Times
‘Let’s face it: There’s a good chance that Republicans will control one or both houses of Congress after the midterm elections. And at this point climate denialism has a deathlike grip on the G.O.P. — a grip unlikely to loosen until complete catastrophe is upon us, and maybe not even then. Look at the way anti-mask-mandate, anti-vaccine-mandate Republican governors are doubling down in the face of soaring Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths.’
Source: Opinion | Corporate America Is Lobbying for Climate Disaster – The New York Times
‘…As the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept over New York City, Central Park recorded 3.15 inches of rain in a single hour on Wednesday night, smashing the previous one-hour record of 1.94 inches set on Aug. 21 during Tropical Storm Henri. The sudden burst of rain paralyzed the city, with cascades of water pouring into subway stations and shutting down much of the system for hours.’
Source: New York’s Record Rain Carries Stark Warning About Climate Change – The New York Times
‘…Major brands have invested in carbon offset forest projects to meet emission reduction targets—and many of those companies publicly brag about them to try to convince customers and investors that they are environmentally responsible businesses.’
‘Now some of those offset projects are going up in smoke—but the companies that used those offsets to comply with the program do not have to buy up more forestland to compensate for the losses if they burn through their buffer pools.’
Source: California’s Forest Carbon Offsets Are Burning Amid Record Fires
‘Aug 31 (Reuters) – The Biden administration announced plans on Tuesday to open millions of acres for oil and gas exploration as the White House sought to comply with a court order requiring it to resume lease auctions.’
Source: Biden administration to resume drilling auctions in setback to climate agenda | Reuters
‘…Carbon neutrality doesn’t achieve any sort of systemic change. A coal-powered business could be entirely carbon neutral as long it stops some landfill gas in Malaysia from entering the atmosphere equal to the emissions it’s still releasing. American fossil fuel dependence would remain intact, and planet-warming emissions would continue to rise. The only way to fix that is through politics, policymakers and legislation.’