Guy on Climate [Meteorologist Guy Walton]: Extreme Temperature Diary – Wednesday August 16th, 2023/Main Topic: “The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to Main Topic: Earth Officially Sees Its Hottest Month on Record by a Wide Margin or record Main Topic: Just Five Oil Giants Set to Blow an Eighth of the World’s Carbon Budget by 2050 as ETs (not extraterrestrials).

• As most of my readers and followers know, I’ve been naming U.S. heatwaves for big oil companies this year. Today we will emphasize why oil companies need to be skewered through a Common Dreams article by Jake Johnson. These companies should be bending over backwards or proverbially following all over themselves to use their resources to transition to green renewables, working with automobile companies to make transportation via electric vehicles work such that it is affordable for everyone.

Just five fossil fuel giants—BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and TotalEnergies—are set to use nearly an eighth of the world’s dwindling carbon budget by 2050 as they continue to increase oil and gas production, driving up planet-warming emissions that are fueling catastrophic extreme weather worldwide. According to an analysis released Tuesday by Global Witness, those five corporations are forecast to produce oil and gas that—when burned—will emit roughly 47 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.“This is equivalent to almost one-eighth of the remaining global carbon budget for staying below 1.5°C,” the group noted, referring to the warming target set by the Paris climate accord.Scientists have estimated that rich nations must completely cut off oil and gas production by 2034 to give the world a 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century.”