Data is Plural: “Carbon Majors, run by the UK-based InfluenceMap, “is a database of historical production data from 122 of the world’s largest oil, gas, coal, and cement producers.” It attributes to these producers 1,421 metric gigatons of CO2-equivalent emissions from 1854 through 2022. Launched last month, the database provides downloads at several levels of… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Climate Change
How to prepare for another season of wildfire smoke
Vox: “Several US states are again experiencing an influx of wildfire smoke as Canada’s summer fire season gets underway. Due to the scale of the wildfires and natural weather patterns, enormous amounts of smoke are drifting southward — much like last year. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Minnesota are among the earliest states to… Continue Reading
As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose
The New York Times [unpaywalled]: “The insurance turmoil caused by climate change — which had been concentrated in Florida, California and Louisiana — is fast becoming a contagion, spreading to states like Iowa, Arkansas, Ohio, Utah and Washington. Even in the Northeast, where homeowners insurance was still generally profitable last year, the trends are worsening.… Continue Reading
Automakers and Climate Policy Advocacy: A Global Analysis
“New InfluenceMap analysis finds that negative lobbying by the world’s largest automakers is putting global climate targets at risk and threatening the transition to electric vehicles. This report analyses the climate policy engagement strategies of fifteen of the largest global automakers in seven key regions (Australia, EU, Japan, India, South Korea, UK, US). It shows… Continue Reading
A visual comparison of USDA gardening zones from 1976 to 2020
NPR: “The USDA’s gardening zones shifted. This map shows you what’s changed in vivid detail Recently, the USDA updated its plant hardiness map for the first time in 11 years. If you’re a gardener — and everybody can be a gardener, even on a balcony or a stoop — this is a big deal! The updated map opens… Continue Reading
Electricity 2024 – Analysis and forecast to 2026
International Energy Agency – Electricity 2024 Analysis and forecast to 2026 – “Electricity is central to the functioning of modern societies and economies – and its importance is only growing as technologies that run on electricity, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps, become increasingly popular. Power generation is currently the largest source of carbon… Continue Reading
What actually happens within your lawn when you don’t mow it
Washington Post [link is free to read]: “Your vibrant green lawn may look lush, but it’s actually an ecological wasteland. “The idea for that ideal lawn is that nothing else can live in it,” said David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation, a nonprofit conservation organization. “It’s like a dense, eternally green carpet.”… Continue Reading
City Trees Save Lives
Wired: “The humble tree has long protected humans from sickness and even death—and in the modern city, it’s still doing so. As global temperatures rise, so too does the “urban heat island effect”—the tendency for cities to absorb and hold on to the sun’s energy, which is a growing public-health crisis worldwide. On a small… Continue Reading
‘Seriously Underwater’ Home Mortgages Tick Up Across the US
Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance: “Roughly one in 37 homes are now considered seriously underwater in the US, and that share is much higher across a swath of southern states. Nationally, 2.7% of homes carried loan balances at least 25% more than their market value in the first few months of the year. That’s up from… Continue Reading
Environmental Changes Are Fueling Human, Animal and Plant Diseases
The New York Times – “Several large-scale, human-driven changes to the planet — including climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the spread of invasive species — are making infectious diseases more dangerous to people, animals and plants, according to a new study.” Nature, Published 8 May 2024 – A meta-analysis on global change drivers… Continue Reading
Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks
“EPA develops an annual report called the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (Inventory), that tracks U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks by source, economic sector, and greenhouse gas going back to 1990. EPA has prepared the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks since the early 1990s. This annual report, provides a… Continue Reading
State of the Air 2024 report
“The State of the Air 2024 report finds that despite decades of progress cleaning up air pollution, 39% of people living in America—131.2 million people—still live in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. This is 11.7 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report. Nearly 4… Continue Reading
