IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Heat and wildfires explode in the U.S., Greece, and Middle East; Calgary grapples with water crisis; Cheap renewable energy pushes out costly nuclear power in France; PLUS: Major railway ordered to pay $400 million to Native American tribe for trespassing... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Thousands evacuated as floods and deadly landslides hit southeast China; Singapore races to clean oil spill as luxury beach resort coated in slick; French renewable energy sector says far-right victory risks trouble for industry; Unchecked growth around Big Bend sparks debate over water; EU passes law to restore 20% of bloc’s land and sea by 2030... PLUS: Fighting climate change is powering the U.S. economy... and much, MUCH more! ...
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...
- Dangerously hot, prolonged heat wave to broil U.S. over coming days:
- What makes this heat wave so risky (Axios):
The heat wave is a public health threat as well as an economic blow. That's because of its large footprint, the fact that it is affecting areas unaccustomed to extreme heat and is an early-season event. Three aspects of this heat wave make it particularly dangerous. - What to know about this week’s massive heatwave and how to stay safe (AP):
Although nighttime temperatures will dip into the 70s, providing some relief, the duration of the heat can have a cumulative and potentially dangerous effect on the body, Freitag said. - VIDEO: More than 100 million brace for dangerous heat wave across US (Today Show/MSNBC)
- Amid Record-Breaking Heat Wave, Researchers Step Up Warnings About Risks Extreme Temperatures Pose to Children (Inside Climate News)
- Post fire marches toward Pyramid Lake as California fire season intensifies (LA Times/MSN)
- Climate change has made prolonged heat waves four times more likely in U.S.:
- Intense, persistent heat wave across Midwestern and Eastern U.S. influenced by climate change (Climate Central):
Daily average temperatures are expected to reach Climate Shift Index (CSI) levels of 4 in much of West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana. A CSI level 4 indicates that human-caused climate change made this excessive heat at least four times more likely, signifying an extreme climate change event. - 2023 set a record for U.S. heat deaths. Why 2024 could be even deadlier (AP)
- Major wildfire outbreak in California:
- California braces for heavy wildfire activity this fall: 'They're only going to get worse' (LA Times/MSN):
Experts are warning Californians to brace for a 'very active' wildfire season this fall as two back-to-back wet winters and forecasts for a warmer-than-normal summer are likely to prime the state's landscape for fire..."The good news is increasingly in the rear-view mirror," Swain said. "The bad news is that I think that the back half of this season is going to be much more active — with a lot more concerning level of wildfire activity in a lot of areas — than the first half." - Post fire marches toward Pyramid Lake as California fire season intensifies (LA Times/MSN)
- VIDEO: 6 major blazes burning as early start to the California wildfire season intensifies (ABC News)
- Exposure to wildfire smoke can be deadly:
- Wildfires across California spread as hot, gusty winds hit Monday (LA Times)
- Wildfire Smoke Killed More Than 50,000 Californians Over a Decade (Yale e360):
For the study, researchers modeled particulate pollution from wildfires across California from 2008 to 2018. They then compared their model with local mortality numbers to infer the number of deaths from wildfire smoke. In total, they estimate that at least 52,480 Californians met early deaths as a result of breathing smoke. - Mortality attributable to PM2.5 from wildland fires in California from 2008 to 2018 (Science Advances)
- Europe, Middle East grapple with record, deadly early heat waves and fires:
- Scorching Northern Hemisphere heat leads to deaths and wildfires (AP):
And it’s not just the U.S. Across the Northern Hemisphere, in Europe and Asia, extreme temperatures are causing deadly heatstroke and early wildfires ahead of the start of the astronomical summer on Thursday. - Earliest-ever heat wave in Greece closes Acropolis and public schools (ABC News):
This heat wave will go down in history," Greece's state TV meteorologist said. - Heat forces Greek authorities to shut down Acropolis during afternoon hours for a second day (AP)
- Number of Jordanian pilgrims, who die of heat exhaustion during Hajj, confirmed at 41 (Jordan Times/MSN)
- Algeria: water shortage crisis triggers violent protests:
- Riots erupt in drought-stricken central Algeria over months of water shortages (AP):
Violent riots erupted in a drought-stricken Algerian desert city last weekend after months of water shortages left taps running dry and forced residents to queue to access water for their households. In Tiaret — a central Algerian city of less than 200,000 located 155 miles (250 kilometers) southwest of Algiers — protestors wearing balaclavas set tires aflame and set up make-shift barricades blocking roads to protest their water being rationed, according to pictures and videos circulating on social media. - Calgary grapples with water emergency:
- City of Calgary calls for 3rd-party review into why water main ruptured (CBC)
- VIDEO: Calgary declares state of local emergency over water crisis prompted by feeder main break (Global News):
Mayor Jyoti Gondek announced Saturday that the City of Calgary has declared a local state of emergency on Day 10 of its water supply crisis, triggered by what officials have described as a “catastrophic” water main break...The announcement came one day after crews found “significant” additional damage on a crucial feeder main, shifting the expected timeline for restoring normal water service to three to five weeks from now. The northwest Calgary feeder main was first damaged on June 5. - For Calgary and Stampede, 'come hell or no water' is the only option (CBC)
- Cheap renewables push out French nuclear plants:
- European nuclear plants put out of work by green power surge (Bloomberg/Japan Times)
- Energy prices in France turn negative as surging renewable output takes nuclear plants offline (Yahoo Finance):
Across the continent, a push to decarbonize energy grids has accelerated a boom in renewable infrastructure. Yet, without the battery technology and investment to store the energy surplus, it's creating pricing inefficiencies. - Electricity Prices in France Just Turned Negative Because of Renewables (Futurism):
While that may sound like an overwhelmingly good thing, much of this power ends up not being used, because battery storage capabilities have lagged behind renewable generation facilities. And not just in France — much of the continent has struggled to hold on to the wealth of renewable energy it's producing. - Judge orders BNSF Railway to pay $400 million for oil train trespassing:
- Judge orders railway to pay Washington tribe nearly $400 million for trespassing with oil trains (AP):
U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik initially ruled last year that the railway deliberately violated the terms of a 1991 easement with the Swinomish Tribe north of Seattle that allows trains to carry no more than 25 cars per day. The judge held a trial earlier this month to determine how much in profits BNSF made through trespassing from 2012 to 2021 and how much it should be required to disgorge. - BNSF Railway ordered to pay $395 million after years of trespassing on Swinomish land (KUOW-Seattle):
BNSF has permission from the tribe to run two oil trains a day, totaling no more than 50 tanker cars, through its reservation. Instead, BNSF has been running oil trains with 100 or more cars each across the reservation’s northern end up to six times a day...As a “conscious wrongdoer,” BNSF “will be stripped of the net profits obtained from its unauthorized interference with another’s property,” Lasnik ordered.
'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
- Thousands evacuated as floods and deadly landslides hit southeast China (CNN)
- Singapore races to clean oil spill as luxury beach resort coated in slick (CNN)
- French renewable energy sector says far-right victory risks trouble for industry (Reuters)
- VIDEO: Fighting climate change is powering the U.S. economy (Jeff Berardelli, WFLA)
- 'Chevron Doctrine': A Key Court Ruling Could Weaken U.S. Environmental Protections (Yale e360)
- Federal Appellate Panel Sends Michigan Pipeline Challenge To State Court (AP)
- Rep. Castor Urges OSHA To Speed Federal Heat Protections For Outdoor Workers (States Newsroom)
- This Coal-Heavy Rural Co-Op Utility Is Buying Its First Solar Plants (Canary Media)
- Texas Prelude: Unchecked Growth Around Big Bend Sparks Debate Over Water (Texas Tribune)
- On a Warming Planet, Outdoor Concerts Need a New Safety Playbook (Bloomberg)
- EU passes law to restore 20% of bloc’s land and sea by end of decade (Guardian)
- Is the Atlantic Overturning Circulation Approaching a Tipping Point? (The Oceanography Society)
- How Oil Companies Manipulate Journalists (Drilled)
- Abrupt reduction in shipping emission as an inadvertent geoengineering termination shock produces substantial radiative warming (Nature)
- Texas’ First Flood Plan Estimates 5 Million Live In Flood-Prone Areas (Texas Tribune)
- How Reviving Medieval Farming Offers Wildlife An Unexpected Haven (Guardian)
- VIDEO: PBS Newshour on Extreme Heat Across the Planet (This Is Not Cool blog)
- What to do when facing extended summer power outages (AP)
- How To Spot 5 Of The Fossil Fuel Industry's Biggest Disinformation Tactics (Guardian)
- The Oceans We Knew Are Already Gone (The Atlantic)
- 'In A Word, Horrific': Trump's Extreme Anti-Environment Blueprint (Guardian)
- Plug-in hybrids vs. electric cars: We did the math on which is better for you (Washington Post)
- How to electrify your life when you rent (The Verge)
- Complete Series: Farmers Under Attack for Supporting Clean Energy (This Is Not Cool blog)
- These are the places most at risk from record-breaking heat waves as the planet warms (CNN)
- Feeling Overwhelmed About Going All-Electric at Home? Here's How to Get Started (Inside Climate News)
- Feeling Hopeless About the Climate? Try Our 30-Day Action Plan (The Revelator)
- 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)
- Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
- An Optimist's Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)