WTF Climate Change News

[Innula Zenovka]

‘Heat dome’ probably killed 1bn marine animals on Canada coast, experts say

British Columbia scientist says heat essentially cooked mussels: ‘The shore doesn’t usually crunch when you walk’

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link because why not

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Climate change: Should we be demolishing buildings?

There are more carbon friendly options than replacing old buildings with new ones, architects say.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Beebo Brink]

MSN

A group backed by German car-making giants Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG has started a study into the environmental impact of lithium mining in Chile, the second-largest supplier of the key ingredient in rechargeable batteries.

GIZ, the German development agency running the initiative, is looking into how pumping up lithium-laced brine from beneath the Atacama salt flat is impacting local water supplies and communities. The project will last about two and a half years, a spokeswoman said.

It’s the latest effort by the global battery-supply chain to address growing concern among investors and the general public over the sustainability of industries that will produce the building blocks for the clean-energy transformation.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

It will be so hot here over the next few days that the California ISO, the organizations that manage the state's electrical grids, have issued a flex alert - basically a mandate to lower energy use during the hottest parts of the day to prevent the grid from collapsing. I'm not sure how many people here will heed the warning when it's forecast to be 113 degrees out.

 

[danielravennest]

MSN

There's about 10 kg of lithium in a Tesla car, vs 1500 kg of other stuff in an average car, 19,000 kg of fuel it uses during its lifetime, and 78,600 kg of CO2 that fuel turns into in the atmosphere.

Don't let perfect become the enemy of pretty good.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

There's about 10 kg of lithium in a Tesla car, vs 1500 kg of other stuff in an average car, 19,000 kg of fuel it uses during its lifetime, and 78,600 kg of CO2 that fuel turns into in the atmosphere.

Don't let perfect become the enemy of pretty good.

The central banks in most European countries take a much more activist approach to green issues than does the US.

Central banks flexing their green muscle for climate fight

Central bankers fighting to save the global economy from the coronavirus fallout are preparing to deploy their firepower in another unprecedented battle -- against climate change.

www.reuters.com

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

There's about 10 kg of lithium in a Tesla car, vs 1500 kg of other stuff in an average car, 19,000 kg of fuel it uses during its lifetime, and 78,600 kg of CO2 that fuel turns into in the atmosphere.

Don't let perfect become the enemy of pretty good.

One thing not mentioned is the amount of CO2 put into the atmosphere by the fossil fuel powered electrical power plants to produce power to keep the Teslas charged. Nowhere near as much as what's put out by burning gasoline, but it needs to be accounted for.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

One thing not mentioned is the amount of CO2 put into the atmosphere by the fossil fuel powered electrical power plants to produce power to keep the Teslas charged. Nowhere near as much as what's put out by burning gasoline, but it needs to be accounted for.

Electric car emissions myth 'busted'

Fears that electric cars could actually increase carbon emissions are a baseless, a study suggests.

www.bbc.co.uk

researchers say average “lifetime“ emissions from electric cars are up to 70% lower than petrol cars in countries like Sweden and France (where most electricity comes from renewables and nuclear), and around 30% lower in the UK.

They say the picture for electric cars will become steadily more favourable as nations shift to clean electricity.

The study projects that in 2050 every second car on the streets of the world could be electric. This would reduce global CO2 emissions by up to 1.5 gigatonnes per year, which is equivalent to the total current CO2 emissions of Russia.

 

[Archer]

One thing not mentioned is the amount of CO2 put into the atmosphere by the fossil fuel powered electrical power plants to produce power to keep the Teslas charged. Nowhere near as much as what's put out by burning gasoline, but it needs to be accounted for.

The current trend is to get away from fossil fuel generated electricity though. It is very possible to get to a fully renewable electric grid.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

The current trend is to get away from fossil fuel generated electricity though. It is very possible to get to a fully renewable electric grid.

I think it's entirely possible, perhaps even in our lifetimes, despite conservatives fighting it kicking and screaming.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Health warnings as Death Valley scorches in 54.4C heat

Severity of hot spell in western US underlines dangerous impact of human-caused climate disruption

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link because why not

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Forty-three bodies found in Arizona borderland amid brutal heat

Non-profit group sees apparent surge in number of migrant deaths this year

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link because why not

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Severe drought threatens Hoover dam reservoir – and water for US west

The wellspring of Lake Mead created by the dam’s blocking of the Colorado River has plummeted to a historic low as states in the west face hefty cuts in their water supplies

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link because why not

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Deadly heat: how rising temperatures threaten workers from Nicaragua to Nepal

As scorching temperatures spread, the search for ways to protect against heat stress is becoming ever more urgent

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link because why not

 

[Beebo Brink]

Siberia wildfires: Russia army planes and thousands of firefighters battle blazes

About 800,000 hectares of forest destroyed so far in region enveloped by smoke as Russia suffers through ‘abnormal heatwave’

www.theguardian.com

The Siberian fires have raised fears about the permafrost and peatlands thawing, releasing carbon long stored in the frozen tundra. Ash from the fires could also blanket nearby snow cover, turning it dark so that it absorbs more solar radiation and warms even faster. In both 2019 and 2020, Yakutia’s wildfires led to record amounts of greenhouse gases being released from the region, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), part of a European Union observation programme.

In the past six weeks, fires in the region have produced about 150 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – close to the 2017 annual fossil fuel emissions of Venezuela, said Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at CAMS. “We’re still piecing together the information to try and understand what it means for the climate,” he said. “This year we haven’t yet seen so many fires within the Arctic Circle within that region, but just within the last three to four days we’ve started to see a number of hotspots occurring and a lot of smoke,” said Parrington.

 

[Beebo Brink]

NWT braces itself for increase in mosquito-borne diseases

The NWT government issued an internal advisory warning healthcare professionals to be on the lookout for more mosquito-borne diseases as the climate changes.

cabinradio.ca

 

[Beebo Brink]

One-half climate change, one-half astronomy:
Moon ‘wobble’ and climate change could mean ‘double whammy’ of flooding in 2030s, NASA warns

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

The tree outside my window? Most of the leaves are brown and falling off.

I just looked it up. That heat wave broke the previous record by around 14C.

 

[Beebo Brink]

At least 58 dead in Germany as heavy rains bring catastrophic flooding

Parts of Belgium, France and Netherlands also badly affected as unprecedented rainfall wreaks havoc

www.theguardian.com

The floods were caused by a slow-moving low-pressure weather system, which brought down 148 litres of rain per square metre within 48 hours to a part of Germany that usually sees around 80 litres within the whole of July.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The central banks in most European countries take a much more activist approach to green issues than does the US.

Central banks flexing their green muscle for climate fight

Central bankers fighting to save the global economy from the coronavirus fallout are preparing to deploy their firepower in another unprecedented battle -- against climate change.

www.reuters.com

Wow, now I am feeling more positive towards the near future... NOT.

To make it clear: capitalism will NOT safe the planet, and will NOT mitigate or even battle climate change. Capitalism is the root cause for it. In order to turn climate change around we will need a fundamentally different economic system.