Climate change has made extreme rainfall events of the kind that sent lethal torrents of waterhurtling through parts of Germany and Belgium last month at least 20% more likely to happen in the region, according to an international study published Tuesday (August 24).
Tag Archives: Global Warming
Morning News: Climate Change Report, Business Of Trash, Olympics Review
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report on climate change this morning. It shows that warming is happening more quickly than we realized, and calls the connection between human activity and global warming “unequivocal.” It’s the strongest stance by global scientists on climate we’ve seen yet.
- Plus, the pandemic has changed our relationship with trash.
- And, Ina Fried’s big takeaways from covering the Olympic games.
Guests: Axios’ Andrew Freedman, Hope King, and Ina Fried.
Morning News: What A 3° Warmer World Looks Like, Sudan & Liverpool Let Go
It seems ever more certain that global temperatures will sail past limits set in the Paris Agreement. We examine what a world warmed by 3°C would—or will—look like.
Our correspondent speaks with Sudan’s three most powerful men; will they act in concert or in conflict on the way to democracy? And why Liverpool has been booted from UNESCO’s world-heritage list
Analysis: The Future Of Geothermal Energy
Miles below the Earth’s surface, there’s enough thermal energy to power all of humanity for the foreseeable future. It’s called geothermal energy, and it’s poised to play an increasingly large role as a source of always available, renewable power. Now, there are a number of startups in the geothermal space, working to figure out how to access this heat in difficult to reach geographies, at a price point that makes sense. And it’s even gotten the attention of oil and gas industry giants, who are interested in greening their portfolios while sticking to their core competencies – extracting energy resources from deep within the Earth.
Arctic Wildlife: Shrinking Ice Threatens Seal Pups In Magdalen Islands, Canada
Climate change is shrinking ice around Canada’s Magdalen Islands, leaving fewer safe places for harp seals to give birth.
Climate Change: The Challenges For Carbon Capture Technologies
Elon Musk, Microsoft and oil giants like BP, Occidental and Exxon Mobil are investing in carbon capture technologies. Carbon Engineering and Climeworks are two start-ups that have built machines to suck CO2 straight out of the atmosphere in a process known as direct air capture. But the technology faces a number of challenges, one of which is that there’s currently no market for the captured CO2. As a result, some companies are selling their captured CO2 to oil companies, which use it to produce even more oil.
Innovation: ‘Norrbotten, Sweden’ – “Arctic Green”
Norrbotten in Sweden is blessed with natural resources but more recently has been turning heads because of its growing roster of innovative start-ups. We bear witness to the region’s effort to change heavy industries into clean businesses.
Norrbotten County is the northernmost county or län of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden’s total area.
News: U.S. Rejoins The Paris Climate Agreement (Video)
Hours after being sworn in as US 46th President, Joe Biden kicked off his mandate by signing 17 executive orders. Among those, some were destined to undo the legacy of his predecessor Donald Trump, including rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement. The new president seems to keep climate as his administration’s priority, as promised.
Analysis: Overpopulation – Are Environmental Issues Caused By It? (Video)
Around 390,000 new humans are born every day. So, on a planet with dwindling resources and an increasing strain on natural systems… is curbing our booming population the key to solving our environmental woes?
In 2018, just North America and China were responsible for almost half of the world’s CO2 emissions. These are also the countries with the highest concentrations of the world’s wealthiest people. Their populations are living longer and having fewer babies, so their population growth is actually slowing down. By contrast, the poorest half of the world—where most global population growth is currently concentrated — produces only 10% of the world’s CO2 emissions.
These populations typically lack the technology and wealth that result in high energy expenditure, increased industrialization, and pollution. So, in climate change projections that take these imbalances into account, it’s been shown that redistributing wealth—so, reducing both extreme wealth and extreme poverty—has as much impact on carbon emissions as reducing overall population would.
Even in projected scenarios where a reduction in population does make a difference in emissions, it’s not enough of a difference to affect projected temperature rise. No amount of population reduction would achieve the reduction in emissions necessary to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius in our near future.
Green Investment: ‘Can It Stop Global Warming?’
A new generation of investors wants to force businesses to become environmentally-friendly. Even climate conservationists know that money talks, but can green investments really save the world? Green investment rewards companies that use sustainable production practices and protect the environment. At the same time, companies that pollute or contribute to global warming are deprived of funds.
The strategy converts the once secondary issue of the environment into hard, cold cash. Antonis Schwarz is 30 years old — and an investor, philanthropist, and activist. His slogan is “cash against climate change.” Schwarz, like many other wealthy millennials, sees climate change as the key variable when it comes to investing money. These people intentionally put their cash into companies and projects that protect the environment. Schwarz believes that those who are well-off have a special responsibility to follow this strategy. He says, “When you are able to change something and you don’t, you’re complicit. We all have to become fully involved, so we can prevent a climate disaster.”
This philosophy can be summed up with the following question: “What’s the point of having loads of money if it becomes worthless because you’re living on a planet that’s becoming increasingly chaotic?” Institutional investors have more money at their disposal than wealthy private individuals do. Their approach is also changing — and not out of pure idealism. Extreme weather events caused by climate change, for example, are bad for business. They can force corporations to write off billions in damages.
This documentary goes behind the scenes to take a closer look at the financial markets. How well does “impact investing” work? Can investors really move large, powerful corporations to change their strategies? Politicians have so far failed to do precisely that.
