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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: U.N. weather agency warns the world is not moving fast enough to avert climate chaos…which may already be here; North Carolina storm damage estimated to top $7 billion; PLUS: New study finds Biden’s climate policies will save 200,000 lives from toxic air pollution… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
9/19/2024
‘Green News Report’ – September 19, 2024 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – September 19, 2024 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): A Vote for reality: Scientific American endorses Harris; Scientists warn 70% of the world’s population to see rapid increase in ‘unprecedented’ weather; Biden Admin spending climate cash fast, as Trump threatens to cancel it; EPA scientists said they were pressured to downplay harms from chemicals. A watchdog found they were retaliated against; The Gulf Coast is sinking, making hurricanes like Francine even more dangerous; Norway’s electric cars outnumber petrol for first time in ‘historic milestone’… PLUS: Hundreds of elephants to be killed in Zimbabwe and Namibia as food and water resources run dry… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Phoenix, AZ finally ends its 113-day record streak of days over 100F:
- Phoenix ends its streak of 100-degree days at 113 consecutive days (AP)
- VIDEO: Phoenix welcomes break from record heat, but triple-digit days may linger (Arizona Republic):
The last time Phoenix experienced temperatures in the 90s was May 26, making this summer one of the most grueling on record. Highlights include setting a new record for the number of days with temperatures at or above 110 degrees — 61 days in total. Additionally, there were 39 mornings where the temperature only dropped into the 90s, another new record.
- Climate Central: climate change made extreme heat 3 times more likely:
- Risky Summer Heat Added by Climate Change (Climate Central)
- People Exposed to Climate Change: June-August 2024 (Climate Central):
Global exposure peaked on August 13, 2024, when 4.1 billion people — half (50%) of all people worldwide — experienced unusual temperatures made at least three times more likely by climate change.
- Study: 2024 Broke A 50-Year Heat Record Around The Globe (USA Today):
The report says that during June, July and August, 50% of the world’s population experienced unusually hot temperatures, and 25% didn’t get a break from the heat during the entire summer.
- North Carolina’s unnamed storm caused estimated $7 billion in damage:
- NC Storm Damage Estimated at $7 Billion (SFN Today):
AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from an unnamed storm with tropical storm impacts in the United States is $7 billion. This is a preliminary estimate, as the storm effects are continuing to be felt and some areas have not yet reported complete information about damage, injuries and other impacts.
- ‘Firehose’ storm hits part of North Carolina and scientists see climate change (AP)
- Portugal declares ‘state of calamity’ over surge of wildfires:
- VIDEO: Portugal declares a state of calamity as wildfires spread out of control (AP)
- ‘It was horrific’ says local after Portugal’s deadly wildfires (Reuters)
- Portugal wildfires causing record smoke emissions for September – EU (RTE News)
- Wildfires in Portugal blamed for at least six deaths as Europe sends aircraft to help (AP)
- Brazil and Ecuador see catastrophic impacts from historic drought:
- Brazil: Worst drought on record lowers Amazon rivers to all-time lows (Reuters):
he worst drought on record has lowered the water level of the rivers in the Amazon basin to historic lows, in some cases drying up riverbeds that were previously navigable waterways…The second-consecutive year of critical drought has parched much of Brazil’s vegetation and caused wildfires across South American nations, cloaking cities in clouds of smoke.
- Amazon River Dolphins Are Facing Mass Die-Offs In Brazil (Huffington Post)
- Ecuador To Impose Blackouts Due To Severe Drought (AFP/Barron’s):
A nightly eight-hour power cut from 10:00 pm will be imposed next week from Monday to Thursday due to the drought affecting the reservoirs of several hydroelectric plants, which are the nation’s main source of power.
- Ecuador enlists military to manage dam during power crisis (Reuters):
Ecuador is in the grip of a power crisis, which the government attributes to a lack of maintenance of existing dams and contracts to secure new power generation, as well as the country’s worst drought in the last 61 years, according to the government.
- European Union warns of ‘climate breakdown’:
- EU warns deadly flooding and wildfires show climate breakdown is fast becoming the norm (AP):
“Make no mistake. This tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our shared future,” said EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic…”Europe is the fastest warming continent globally and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events like the one we are discussing today. We could not return to a safer past,” Lenarcic told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.
- Photos: Hallmarks of climate change seen in floods, fires and drought around the globe (AP)
- Entire city evacuated after floods, 7 die in wildfires as extreme weather sweeps Europe (CNN)
- World Meteorological Agency warns world is on track to suffer 3°C warming:
- ‘Breakthrough to a better world’: How can we avert 3C this century? WMO report offers solutions (EuroNews):
The world is more likely than not to rise 3°C above pre-industrial levels this century, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Released today, the annual ‘United in Science’ report brings together the latest climate science in the hope of steering us towards a safer future.
- VIDEO: World Meteorological Organization (WMO) – Press Conference: United in Science report (United Nations)
- Study: Biden’s climate policies wil save lives from air pollution:
- Biden’s green policies will save 200,000 lives and have boosted clean energy jobs, data shows (Guardian):
Jeremy Symons, a former climate policy adviser at the EPA and a co-author of the report, said the findings were “jaw-dropping”. He added: “The EPA’s accomplishments have been nothing short of lifesaving over the last four years. These are real people who wouldn’t be alive if not for the non-partisan work of the EPA to start doing its job again after the last administration.”
- Biden-Harris EPA rules save $253B/yr, 202k lives; Project 2025 seeks rollback (Electrek)
- Breathing Easy: An Assessment of Public Health Benefits from EPA Air Pollution Standards (2021-24) (pdf, Environmental Protection Network)
‘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
- A Vote for Reality: Scientific American Endorses Harris (This Is Not Cool blog)
- Scientists warn 70% of the world’s population to see rapid increase in ‘unprecedented’ weather (EuroNews)
- Biden Admin spending climate cash fast, as Trump threatens to cancel it (Reuters)
- Officials plead with insurers to maintain coverage for homes as climate-driven disasters ramp up: ‘The climate change canary in the coal mine’ (The Cool Down)
- Hundreds of elephants to be killed in Zimbabwe and Namibia as food and water resources run dry (EuroNews)
- EPA scientists said they were pressured to downplay harms from chemicals. A watchdog found they were retaliated against. (Pro Publica)
- Pipeline explosion in Deer Park reveals hidden hazards Texans face (Texas Observer)
- What the jet stream and climate change had to do with the hottest summer on record – remember all those heat domes? (The Conversation)
- The Gulf Coast is sinking, making hurricanes like Francine even more dangerous (Grist)
- Norway: electric cars outnumber petrol for first time in ‘historic milestone’ (Guardian)
- Stark before and after photographs reveal sharp decline of Norway’s seabirds (Guardian)
- Flooding threatens influential environmentalist’s property in Minnesota (AP)
- Ford is first US automaker to participate in Southern California Edison’s emergency DR program (Utility Dive)
- How to power your home through an outage without a gas generator (Washington Post)
- VIDEO: John Oliver on Trump’s Project 2025: Blueprint for the Death of Democracy (This Is Not Cool blog)
- 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)
- How To Spot 5 Of The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Biggest Disinformation Tactics (Guardian)
- The Oceans We Knew Are Already Gone (The Atlantic)
- 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)
- 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)
- Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
tRump mentioned something about a silly millimeter of sea level rise over 400 years.
The US States of Sea Level Change