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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Monumental humanitarian crisis in Libya after catastrophic extreme flooding; U.S. hits new record for billion-dollar weather disasters in a single year; PLUS: Texas heat and drought is causing damage to local water systems... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Earth 'well outside safe operating space for humanity', scientists find; CA lawmakers pass groundbreaking greenhouse emissions disclosure bill; New York could require flood disclosures in home sales; Study: lead exposure killed more than 5 million people in just one year; World’s biggest carbon capture plant being built in Texas; For a pittance, miners can work public land. There’s a push to make them pay.... PLUS: Development in Washington State is crowding out cougars... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

• Fox News' Greg Gutfeld says climate change has been beneficial and made environments "more livable for people" (Media Matters)
• Humanitarian crisis in Libya in wake of destructive 'bibilical' rains, floods:
• Live updates: Libya flood deaths hit 11,000 - with 20,000 missing - Red Crescent (BBC)
• Before and after satellite images show scale of Libya flood destruction (Axios)
• UN says most Libya flood deaths could have been avoided, as fears rise toll could hit 20,000 (USA Today)
• Aid coordinator warns of disease risks, water shortages (DW News)
• Humanitarian response ramps up as floods of 'epic proportions' leave thousands dead (United Nations News)
• Whole families drowned in Libya’s flood. Many didn’t realize the danger until they heard dams burst (AP)
• Libya struggles to deal with thousands of corpses in shattered Derna (Washington Post/MSN)
• How to help the flood victims in Libya (CBS News)
• New extreme storms and flash floods strike in New England:
• Massachusetts city got nearly 10 inches of rain in 6 hours, flooding homes and eroding dams (AP)
• A Massachusetts city deluged by 'catastrophic flooding faces more danger as homes near a precarious dam get evacuated (CNN)
• Rain-soaked New England hit by likely tornado amid wild weather ahead of Hurricane Lee’s arrival (AP)
• VIDEO: Massachusetts city hit by unexpected flooding as up to 11 inches of rain falls (CBS News)
• VIDEO: Massive sinkhole continues to loom large in Leominster after major flooding (WCVB-Boston)
• Hurricane Lee takes aim at New England:
• Hurricane Lee lashing Bermuda before striking coastal New England and Atlantic Canada
• Hurricane Lee live updates: Wind, rain heading to Massachusetts, Maine (ABC News)
• After days of heavy rain and flash flooding in New England, Hurricane Lee is up next (AP)
• U.S. breaks record for billion-dollar weather disasters in a single year:
• U.S. has seen a record number of weather disasters this year. It’s only September. (Washington Post):
  
  "It takes a lot to surprise me," said a government scientist who tracks billion-dollar disasters. "But this year has been a surprise."
• Number of billion-dollar weather disasters in US blows through annual record with four months left in the year (CNN)
• VIDEO: 2023 Tops NOAA's list of billion-dollar disasters (Yahoo News)
• Texas' heat wave and drought damaged water systems:
• The summer’s record heat has caused costly damage to Texas water systems (Texas Tribune):
  
  The hottest summer on record for many Texas cities has brought millions of dollars in damage to municipal plumbing and the loss of huge volumes of water during a severe drought. Authorities across the state are struggling to keep up with widespread leakage even as they plead for water conservation and have restricted outdoor water use. The impact on Texas’ water systems highlights both the vulnerability of basic infrastructure to a warming climate and the high costs of adaptation.
• FEMA announces new funding for infrastructure resilience projects:
• FEMA announces $3 billion for climate resiliency as time runs low for Congress to replenish its disaster fund (CNN)
• FEMA rolls out climate adaptation loans for small and overlooked communities (Grist/MSN):
  
  [T]he agency’s infrastructure programs have drawn criticism for disproportionately funneling money toward larger, wealthier, and whiter communities...There are two big reasons for this funding gap. The first is that FEMA doles out adaptation money through competitive grant programs, which means that a local government needs significant funding and staff to put together an application that stands a chance of attracting federal dollars. The second is that federal law requires the agency to fund only those adaptation projects that pass what it calls a "benefit-cost analysis." In other words, a city must prove that its proposed project prevents more damage than it costs to build.
• Germany bans most new oil and gas heating systems:
• Germany passes diluted ‘boiler ban’ after months of outcry (UK Telegraph)
• German lawmakers pass heating law that divided government (DW News)
• Q&A – Germany agrees phaseout of fossil fuel heating systems (ECEE News)
• Electric heat pumps outperform fossil fuels, even in subzero temperatures:
• Heat pumps twice as efficient as fossil fuel systems in cold weather, study finds (Guardian):
  
  Even at temperatures approaching -30C, heat pumps outperform oil and gas heating systems..The research, published in the specialist energy research journal Joule, used data from seven field studies in North America, Asia and Europe. It found that at temperatures below zero, heat pumps were between two and three times more efficient than oil and gas heating systems.
• Heat Pumps Really Bring the Heat During Those Cold Dark Winter Months, Study Says (Gizmodo)
• New Heat Pumps Use Sound to Heat/Cool (Climate Crocks)

'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

• Earth 'well outside safe operating space for humanity', scientists find (Guardian)
• Calif. Lawmakers Pass Groundbreaking Greenhouse Emissions Disclosure Bill (LA Times)
• As climate risks increase, New York could require flood disclosures in home sales (AP)
• Study: Lead Exposure Killed More Than 5 Million People In Just One Year (Grist)
• Biden’s rules on clean cars face a crucial test as Republican-led challenges go to DC appeals court (AP)
• New Indonesian industrial park on Borneo, feted as 'green,' will be powered by coal, report says (AP)
• Summer 2023 was the hottest on record – yes, it’s climate change, but don’t call it ‘the new normal’ (The Conversation)
• With incandescent light bulbs now banned, one fan has stockpiled 4,826 bulbs to last until he's 100 (CBS News)M
  

• Are Tom’s of Maine and Colgate toothpaste tubes really recyclable? [Hint: usually, no] (Washington Post)
• Washington State: Crowding Out Cougars (Inside Climate News)
• News Corp Gasses Up ‘Green’ Fossil Fuels - But Does It Pass The Sniff Test? (Guardian)
• World’s Biggest Carbon Capture Plant Being Built In Texas. Will It Work? (Guardian)
• For a Pittance, Miners Can Work Public Land. There’s a Push to Make Them Pay. (NY Times)
• The Summer From Hell Was Just A Warning (E&E News)
• Rising Temperatures Are Wreaking Havoc Year-Round (gift link, Bloomberg)
• Rough years ahead [as new El Nino arrives] (Nature)
• Complete Series: Farmers Under Attack for Supporting Clean Energy (Climate Crocks)
• These are the places most at risk from record-breaking heat waves as the planet warms (CNN)
• Building Steam in Lithium Valley (The American Prospect)
• Feeling Overwhelmed About Going All-Electric at Home? Here's How to Get Started (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: See what three degrees of global warming looks like (The Economist/YouTube)
• The 7 climate tipping points that could change the world forever (Grist)
• The 1977 White House climate memo that should have changed the world (Guardian UK)
• Four solutions to mitigate climate change, from the IPCC (Dr. Michael Mann, Penn Today)
• Environmental Sacrifice Zones: 8 Places We've Given Up-Probably Forever (Environmental Health Network)
• Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
• VIDEO: 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis (Guardian UK)
• 99.9 percent Of Scientists Agree Climate Emergency Caused By Humans (Guardian UK)
• Climate Fund Choices for Investors Are Multiplying (Bloomberg/Yahoo)
• How climate change could undo 50 years of public health gains (Grist)
• Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration (Pro Publica)
• Exxon's Snake Oil: 100 years of deception (Columbia Journalism Review)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
• 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.

                 

Article Categories: Texas, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Environment, FEMA, Green News, Libya, Natural gas, Climate change, Extreme weather, Germany, Water, Africa, NOAA, Infrastructure, Pollution