“Global CO2 emissions have returned to pre-pandemic levels and then some, threatening to put climate treaty targets for capping global warming out of reach, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.
“Energy-related emissions were two percent higher in December 2020 than in the same month a year earlier…
“”The rebound in global carbon emissions toward the end of last year is a stark warning that not enough is being done to accelerate clean energy transitions worldwide,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement.”
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210302-co2-pollution-bounces-back-climate-goals-at-risk-iea
“Pollution is so bad in this Chicago neighborhood, people are on hunger strike to stop it…
“Oscar Sanchez’s fight against a scrapyard set to be relocated to his Southeast Chicago neighborhood has taken quite the physical toll. He’s lost about 20 pounds in the past month. He is increasingly unable to sleep, speak, or think clearly.”
https://grist.org/justice/chicago-hunger-strike-scrapyard-pollution-environmental-justice/
“Images show flooded Kentucky communities as storms trigger state of emergency:
“Heavy thunderstorms pounded Appalachia, sending rivers out of their banks and leading to multiple water rescues, mudslides, road closures and power outages.”
“About 390,000 Texas residents were still under boil water advisories as of midday Monday, almost two weeks after a winter storm slammed large swaths of the South.
“The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) website shows there are 399 active boil water notices in effect on Monday, while 1,780 notices have already been lifted.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/01/us/texas-winter-storm-aftermath/index.html
“Texas’s largest co-operative power generator filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday as the financial fallout from a winter storm that plunged millions into darkness and sent wholesale electricity prices skyrocketing continued to mount.
“Brazos Electric Power Cooperative — a generation and transmission company that serves co-operatives across the state, many of which serve poorer rural areas — said it faced more than $2.1bn in bills for power it bought at surging prices during the storm.”
https://www.ft.com/content/5a7adedf-8328-42a7-9653-d8a88ace3370
“Southern California can expect post-wildfire landslides almost every year, a study found.
“Major landslides can be expected every 10 to 13 years. A landslide in 2018 killed 23 people and destroyed or damaged over 400 structures.”
“The National Meteorological Service (SMN) reported on the weather in Mexico this Monday, in which a high pressure system will bring a heat wave over western, central and southern Mexico and will maintain a hot to very hot environment during the afternoon.
“Maximum temperatures of 40 to 45 ° C [113F] are forecast in Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla (southwest), Oaxaca and Chiapas…”
“Extreme weather patterns and flooding worsened by climate change are adversely affecting the health of babies born in the Amazon rainforest.
“…babies in riverside communities were more likely to be born premature (before 37 weeks) and underweight following extreme weather like floods and droughts.”
“High temps and little rain for much of Argentina until June: The National Meteorological Service (SMN, Argentina) released its quarterly Climate Forecast that begins today, March 1, until May inclusive, where the “drought” conditions that a large part of Buenos Aires currently suffers will extend.
“In detail, and speaking of rainfall, Entre Ríos , south of Santa Fe and the center and east of Buenos Aires will receive lower than normal rains.. a large part of Patagonia will show temperatures above normal…”
“After 4:00 p.m. This Sunday, there was a forest fire in the commune of Curacaví [Chile], which – until now – has consumed around 200 hectares… without being controlled yet.
“According to Conaf, the affected area corresponds to a sector known as Fundo Monterrey. In addition, due to weather conditions, the flames would be spreading rapidly…”
“27 February was a historic day in the Tierra del Fuego region.
“The Zañartu airport of the chilean town of Puerto Williams which claims to be southernmost town in the world recorded 26.1C [79F],its highest temperature on record, 0.1C above the previous record set in December 1984.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1366084029792083970
“The Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) confirmed that four whales beached in Puerto Williams [Chile]…
“The event occurs days after a massive sardine shoal was discovered at the mouth of the Carampangue River, in the Biobío Region. On that occasion, thousands of fish turned up dead.”
https://www.surenio.com.ar/cuatro-ballenas-quedaron-varadas-en-puerto-williams/
“The number of endangered North Atlantic right whales remains dangerously low. There are fewer than 366 surviving specimens, according to a new assessment.
“Vessel strikes and entanglements in fishing nets remain the biggest threat to the massive marine mammals, but climate change is leading to rising ocean temperatures that endanger the krill the whales eat to survive.”
“With one in six homes across the UK now at risk of regular flooding – a number the Environment Agency says will double by 2050 – more and more people are thinking up innovative ways to make their properties resilient to submersion.
“…the effects of climate change are becoming ever more pronounced. That UK rainfall is set to increase by 59 per cent by 2050. And that, for the time being at least, it is simply not possible to build, engineer or even plant our way out of the predicament.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/floods-flood-resistant-proof-homes-b1806787.html
“The Swiss winter brought wild fluctuations in temperature, unseasonal rainfalls, abundant snow brought on cold fronts from Siberia and even a helping of Saharan sand.
“In general, temperatures were two degrees Celsius higher than the average… In some parts of Switzerland, temperatures fluctuated by more than 30 degrees C [54F] in the space of a week…”
https://www.expatica.com/ch/weather/sw-crazy-winter-weather-defies-logic-in-switzerland-196607/
“Delhi: February this year second warmest since 1901, says IMD.
“India Meteorological Department (IMD) recordings show that the mean maximum temperature (MMT) in February this year was 27.9°C [82.2F].”
“Extreme weather events (EWEs) claimed the lives of more than 140,000 people in the last 50 years [in India], with deaths due to occurrences like heat waves and lightning witnessing a rise…”
“The paper also stated that the period from 1970-2019 recorded 7,063 extreme weather events – heat waves, cold waves, floods, lightning and tropical cyclones.”
“Cyclone Niran has been upgraded to a category two system and is expected to be upgraded to a category three on Wednesday, the [Australian] weather bureau says.
“The cyclone was about 280 kilometres northeast of Cairns on Tuesday afternoon, and was packing 95km/h [59mph] winds and 130km/h [81mph] gusts as it slowly tracked north-northwest.”
“It is now official: Port Macquarie [NSW, Australia] has just completed its wettest summer on record.
“More than one metre [3.28 feet] of rain fell over the region from December 1 last year, easily eclipsing the previous best mark of 845 millimetres that was set back in the summer of 2012-2013.”
“It took just 24 hours for Perth to smash its average rainfall total for March as thunderstorms battered the city yesterday and locals can expect more of the same over the next few days.
“Monday’s 26.2mm [1.03 inches] drenching blasted through the 19.7mm March average and, with showers and possible storms forecast through until Thursday…”
“The Arctic has a cloud problem: Tiny iodine particles are clumping together to trap sunlight and melt polar sea ice…
“…this process could be a major new mechanism for accelerating the loss of sea ice at the poles—one that no global climate model currently incorporates.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/02/arctic-has-cloud-problem/618159/
You can read the previous ‘Climate’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an ‘Economic’ thread.
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