IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Tropical Storm Beta breaks new records as it grinds into storm-weary Gulf Coast; Smoke from record wildfires in the West is causing another public health crisis; Rising global temperatures are increasing the likelihood of mega-fires; PLUS: The loss of trailblazing US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a loss for the environment... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): As wildfires, flooding, and hurricanes grow more frequent, climate migration begins; NOAA Taps New Chief Scientist Who Downplays Climate Change; Pebble Mine Project Might Be 9 Times Bigger Than Acknowledged; Maine Farmers Struggle with New, Harsher Climate Reality; Arctic Sea Ice Reaches a Low, Just Missing Record; Inspector General Slams FEMA Over Repeatedly Flooded Homes... PLUS: The Undoing of US Climate Policy: The Emissions Impact of Trump-Era Rollbacks... and much, MUCH more! ...
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...
- Tropical Storm Beta breaks century-old record as it slams into weary Gulf Coast:
- Unusually warm ocean waters fuel Tropical Storm Beta's torrential rains (Yale Climate Connections)
- Beta becomes 9th landfall storm of 2020 in a record-shattering season (NBC News)
- Tropical Storm Beta makes landfall in Texas late Monday night (CNN):
Beta's slow-moving approach is expected to produce rain over a long period, causing flash, urban and river flooding, the NHC said. Nearly 11 million people are under flash flood watches that cover all of the Texas and Louisiana coasts. - Beta is the 9th storm to make landfall in the US this year, tying a century-old record (CNN)
- Drivers abandon vehicles in high water on SH-288 at Holly Hall (ABC 13-Houston)
- Dual disasters: How is climate change worsening wildfires and hurricanes? (USA Today)
- Western wildfires causing another public health crisis with record air pollution:
- VIDEO: Wildfires continue to devastate the West Coast (CBS)
- Wildfire death toll in Oregon increases to nine (AP)
- Choking on smoke: U.S. cities open clean air shelters (Reuters)
- ‘This Does Not Look Good for Children’: Fires Pose Risk to Young Lungs (NY Times)
- How breathing in wildfire smoke affects the body (National Geographic):
For the more than seven million people in California's Bay Area living through historic wildfires, it's been hard to breathe for the past month. For 29 days the region has been under a "Spare the Air" alert, which means inhaling outdoor air presents a health hazard. Air quality is even worse in Oregon and Washington, and by this morning smoke had stretched all the way to the East Coast and even to Europe. - Wildfire-weary Californians, 'tired of this being normal,' consider uprooting their lives (CNN)
- Smoke from West Coast wildfires travels to Europe (ABC News)
- 2020 record fire season on nearly every continent:
- It’s Not Just the West. These Places Are Also on Fire. (NY Times):
When it comes to human causes of climate change, “We need to take action, but that will take a long time,” Dr. Pyne said. “We are going to be living with an enhanced fire world for decades, at least.” - The Arctic is burning like never before — and that’s bad news for climate change (Nature)
- Yes, Climate Change Did Influence Australia’s Unprecedented Bushfires (Scientific American):
Such an extreme fire season is at least 30 percent more likely because of global warming, a new analysis finds - VIDEO: Scientists say droughts would be half as severe without human-caused climate change (CBS News)
- Notorious RBG: Justice Ginsburg's loss is a loss for the environment and public health:
- Ginsburg death leaves 'no environmental voice' on bench (E&E News):
The passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg could shake the foundation of America's bedrock environmental laws, leaving a chasm on the bench where once sat an environmental champion. Ginsburg, who died yesterday, was the Supreme Court's longest-serving liberal justice and was best known for her advocacy on women's rights. But she also played a critical role in opening courtroom doors to green groups and established broad interpretations of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other laws..."If the Trump administration is able to get her successor confirmed ... it could mean that the environment always loses in the Supreme Court for a whole generation." - The Environmental Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Eco Watch)
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leaves a Nuanced Legacy on Environmental Issues (Scientific American)
'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...
For a comprehensive roundup of daily environmental news you can trust, see the Society of Environmental Journalists' Daily Headlines page
- As wildfires, flooding, and hurricanes grow more frequent, climate migration begins (Yale Climate Connections)
- NOAA Taps New Chief Scientist Who Downplays Climate Change (Earther)
- Pebble Mine Project Might Be 9 Times Bigger Than Acknowledged (NY Times)
- Maine Farmers Struggle with New, Harsher Climate Reality (Civil Eats)
- Inspector General Slams FEMA Over Repeatedly Flooded Homes (NPR)
- 72 percent Of Impossible Burger Sales Displace Animal-Derived Foods (Clean Technica)
- Wood and Hempcrete: Building Materials for a Green Century (Climate Crocks)
- ‘Math Doesn’t Yet Add Up’ for Utility Decarbonization Goals: Deloitte (GreenTech Media)
- Trump EPA Reapproves Weedkiller Atrazine (CEN)
- Arctic Sea Ice Reaches a Low, Just Missing Record (NY Times)
- The Undoing of US Climate Policy: The Emissions Impact of Trump-Era Rollbacks (Rhodium Group)
- Former EPA Heads, From Both Parties, Rebuke Trump Environment Record (Reuters)
- Docs: Trump aides pushed EPA for fewer methane checks (E&E News)
- Climate Week: Absent World Leaders Worsen UN’s Gridlock at 75 (Bloomberg)
- Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration (Pro Publica)
- Exxon's Snake Oil: 100 years of deception (Columbia Journalism Review)
- What Does '12 Years to Act on Climate Change' (Now 11 Years) Really Mean? (Inside Climate News)
- VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
- SEJ Backgrounder: Green New Deal Proposes Sweeping Economic Transformation (Society of Environmental Journalists)
- Explainer: The 'Green New Deal': Mobilizing for a just, prosperous, and sustainable economy (New Consensus)
- What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like: How to hit the most stringent targets, with no loopholes. (David Roberts, Vox)
- A Global Shift To Sustainability Would Save Us $26 Trillion (Vox)
- Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
- An Optimist's Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
- The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
- The world's bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
- The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate - so every reduction in emissions helps. - The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak - sooner than you think. - A beginner's guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it's possible for the whole world to run on renewables - we merely lack the "political will." So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.
FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page