#climate change news

[politijohn]

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[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

[reasonsofclimatechange]

Heatwaves and Urban Heat Islands: Challenges for Indian Cities.

In recent years, the frequency and intensity of heatwaves in Indian cities have reached alarming levels. The escalating temperatures not only impact the environment but also pose severe health risks and economic challenges. As urbanization intensifies, the phenomenon of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) exacerbates the situation, turning cities into literal hotspots. With climate change accelerating these trends, Indian cities are increasingly vulnerable, making it imperative to understand and address these challenges.

This article explores the dual threat of heatwaves and urban heat islands in Indian cities and the critical role of platforms like eoroe in keeping the public informed about climate change developments.

Understanding Heatwaves in India

Heatwaves, periods of excessively high temperatures, have become more frequent in India. These prolonged episodes often occur during the pre-monsoon months from March to June, with some regions recording temperatures above 45°C. The combination of high temperatures, humidity, and prolonged exposure creates dangerous conditions, leading to increased mortality, particularly among vulnerable populations.

India's meteorological departments classify a heatwave when the maximum temperature exceeds the normal temperature by 4-5°C, or when it crosses 45°C, regardless of the normal temperature. Heatwaves have severe implications for public health, agriculture, water resources, and energy consumption.

Urban Heat Islands: A Growing Urban Challenge

Urban Heat Islands are areas within cities where temperatures are significantly higher than in surrounding rural areas. This temperature difference is primarily due to human activities, such as transportation, industrial processes, and energy use, which release large amounts of heat. Moreover, the replacement of natural land cover with impervious surfaces like asphalt, concrete, and buildings traps heat during the day and releases it slowly at night, preventing cities from cooling down.

In Indian cities, the UHI effect is particularly pronounced due to rapid urbanization and population growth. Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai are experiencing rising temperatures that far exceed those in nearby rural areas. This not only increases the frequency and intensity of heatwaves in urban areas but also aggravates air pollution levels, leading to a vicious cycle of environmental degradation and public health crises.

The Synergy Between Heatwaves and Urban Heat Islands

The interaction between heatwaves and urban heat islands creates a deadly synergy. When a heatwave strikes a city already suffering from UHI effects, the temperature can become dangerously high, often by several degrees more than the surrounding countryside. This leads to a greater demand for energy as people rely more on air conditioning, which in turn contributes to further heat generation and exacerbates the UHI effect.

For instance, during the 2015 heatwave in India, which claimed over 2,000 lives, urban areas were hit hardest, with temperatures in some cities soaring above 48°C. The combined impact of the heatwave and the UHI effect made these urban areas especially vulnerable, highlighting the need for adaptive strategies to protect urban populations from extreme heat.

Public Health Implications

The public health implications of heatwaves and urban heat islands in Indian cities are profound. High temperatures can lead to heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and dehydration, with elderly people, children, outdoor workers, and those with pre-existing health conditions being particularly at risk. During severe heatwaves, hospitals in cities often see a surge in patients suffering from heat-related illnesses.

Moreover, the UHI effect worsens air quality by increasing the concentration of pollutants, particularly ground-level ozone. Poor air quality combined with high temperatures can exacerbate respiratory problems and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, the twin threats of heatwaves and UHIs pose significant challenges to the healthcare infrastructure in Indian cities.

Economic Impact of Heatwaves and Urban Heat Islands

The economic consequences of heatwaves and urban heat islands are equally significant. Heatwaves can disrupt daily activities, reduce labor productivity, and increase energy demand for cooling. This not only strains the power grid but also leads to higher electricity costs, which can disproportionately affect low-income households.

Agriculture, a critical sector for India's economy, also suffers during heatwaves. High temperatures can reduce crop yields, increase water demand, and lead to soil degradation. In urban areas, the UHI effect can further stress local economies by increasing the costs associated with maintaining infrastructure, such as roads and buildings, which are more prone to heat-related damage.

Urban Planning and Mitigation Strategies

To address the challenges posed by heatwaves and urban heat islands, Indian cities need to adopt comprehensive urban planning and mitigation strategies. These include:

Green Infrastructure: Increasing green spaces, such as parks, green roofs, and urban forests, can help mitigate the UHI effect by providing shade and reducing surface temperatures.

Cool Roofs and Pavements: Implementing cool roofing materials and reflective pavements can reduce heat absorption in buildings and roads, thereby lowering the overall urban temperature.

Public Awareness Campaigns: Educating citizens about the dangers of heatwaves and promoting behavioral changes, such as staying hydrated and avoiding outdoor activities during peak heat, can help reduce heat-related illnesses.

Heat Action Plans: Developing and implementing heat action plans, which include early warning systems, emergency response measures, and long-term urban planning strategies, can help cities better prepare for and respond to extreme heat events.

The Role of Technology and Data in Mitigation

Technology and data-driven approaches play a crucial role in mitigating the impacts of heatwaves and urban heat islands. For instance, remote sensing technologies and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can map and monitor UHI patterns, helping city planners identify hotspots and prioritize interventions.

Furthermore, data from weather stations, satellites, and climate models can be used to develop predictive tools that forecast heatwaves and assess their potential impacts on urban areas. Such tools can support decision-making processes and ensure that resources are allocated efficiently to protect vulnerable populations.

eoroe: A Vital Resource for Climate Change News

In the context of these growing challenges, staying informed about climate change and its impacts is more important than ever. eoroe, a pioneering news crawler, serves as a vital resource for accessing the latest climate change news, including developments related to heatwaves, urban heat islands, and other environmental issues affecting Indian cities.

By providing timely and accurate information, eoroe helps policymakers, researchers, and the general public stay informed about the latest trends and challenges in climate change. This access to information is crucial for driving effective action and fostering a greater understanding of the risks and opportunities associated with a changing climate.

Government and Community Involvement

Addressing the challenges of heatwaves and urban heat islands requires the involvement of both government and community stakeholders. The government plays a critical role in setting policies, providing funding for mitigation projects, and enforcing regulations that promote sustainable urban development.

Community involvement is equally important. Local communities can contribute by participating in urban greening initiatives, supporting public awareness campaigns, and advocating for climate-resilient infrastructure in their neighborhoods. When communities are actively engaged, the chances of successfully mitigating the impacts of heatwaves and urban heat islands are significantly higher.

The Path Forward

The challenges posed by heatwaves and urban heat islands in Indian cities are formidable, but they are not insurmountable. By adopting a multi-faceted approach that combines urban planning, technology, public awareness, and policy interventions, Indian cities can better manage the risks associated with extreme heat.

Platforms like eoroe play a crucial role in keeping the public informed and engaged, ensuring that the latest climate change news is accessible to all. As India continues to urbanize, it is essential to prioritize the development of climate-resilient cities that can withstand the growing threat of heatwaves and urban heat islands.

FAQs

How do urban heat islands affect Indian cities? Urban heat islands cause temperatures in cities to rise significantly higher than in surrounding rural areas, exacerbating heatwaves and contributing to health risks, increased energy demand, and environmental degradation.

What are the health risks associated with heatwaves? Heatwaves can lead to heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and dehydration, particularly among vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and outdoor workers. They can also worsen air quality, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

How can Indian cities mitigate the effects of urban heat islands? Indian cities can mitigate UHI effects by increasing green spaces, implementing cool roofs and pavements, developing heat action plans, and using technology to monitor and address urban hotspots.

What role does eoroe play in climate change awareness? eoroe provides timely and accurate climate change news, helping policymakers, researchers, and the public stay informed about the latest developments related to heatwaves, urban heat islands, and other environmental issues.

How does technology help in managing heatwaves? Technology aids in managing heatwaves by providing predictive tools, mapping UHI patterns, and supporting the development of early warning systems, which can guide effective response and mitigation strategies.

What is the economic impact of heatwaves on Indian cities? Heatwaves can disrupt daily activities, reduce labor productivity, increase energy costs, and strain healthcare systems. They also affect agriculture, leading to reduced crop yields and higher water demand.

Conclusion

As India faces the dual challenges of heatwaves and urban heat islands, it is crucial to adopt a comprehensive approach that includes urban planning, technological innovations, and public awareness. By staying informed through platforms like eoroe, Indian cities can better prepare for and mitigate the impacts of extreme

[theupfish]

The ozone layer is not only healing, but will likely be back to its 1980-state within a Millennial's lifetime

[mostafashrb]

Ambassador Mostafa Sherbiny: Issues the first Arab encyclopedia to measure the carbon footprint

The international expert in sustainability and climate risk assessment and observer of the Paris Climate Change Agreement at the United Nations, Ambassador Mustafa El-Sherbiny, stressed the growing interest in measuring the carbon footprint and reducing it globally from industrial to individual levels, given that the concepts of carbon footprint and climate change are new to the world.

Ambassador El-Sherbiny said, in special statements to the Middle East News Agency, today, Thursday, on the occasion of the issuance of the encyclopedia of carbon footprint, emissions management and verification, that the green industrial revolution and the world’s entry into a new era of sustainability and green growth to achieve sustainable development goals have become the main concern of the entire world to restore the planet and combat risks. Climate change, biodiversity and pollution.

He added that this scientific encyclopedia of carbon emissions management includes 7 separate books with 3,000 pages in which we review the companies’ carbon footprint guide, the product’s carbon footprint guide, the guide to verifying and disclosing greenhouse gas emissions, the guide to the mechanism for adjusting carbon limits, the blue carbon guide, the carbon offset projects guide, and the carbon markets guide and the road. To the green economy and all areas of greenhouse gas emissions, in a comprehensive and detailed manner, including scientific elements, methodological and technological aspects, standards, industrial case studies and communication of carbon footprint results, under the supervision and scientific review of an international team of experts, and focusing on methodology, modeling and case studies.

El-Sherbiny continued that carbon footprint accounting for organizations and companies helps to understand their carbon emissions so that they can identify hot spots, which enables them to begin efforts to reduce emissions with measures that have a significant impact, noting that these books describe aspects of modeling and carbon footprint calculations in organizations, products, and carbon projects. Blue and carbon markets.

The international expert in sustainability explained that the encyclopedia emphasizes the importance of identifying non-polluting energy sources as well as sustainability, and also provides a wealth of information about practices and methods in detecting the carbon footprint, treating it, and issuing carbon certificates. This encyclopedia is the first in the Arab world and is considered a world leader as an important reference that discusses in detail the basic data for assessing, compensating and reducing the carbon footprint. It uses case studies on methods and practices from different locations around the world, and explains that the problems of the carbon footprint are truly global, and how they can be addressed in countless ways. From areas of life, from industry to agriculture, energy and solid waste.

Regarding greenhouse gas accounting, or in other words, what is the carbon footprint, El-Sherbiny said that carbon accounting is a way to calculate the amount of greenhouse gases that are emitted by a company or organization. As is the case with financial accounting, carbon accounting measures the impact of the activities of the organization or company and is known as Carbon accounting is also known as “greenhouse gas accounting,” and is used to estimate the carbon footprint of companies, governments, and even individuals.

El-Sherbiny said: “Even when a company or organization succeeds in reducing its carbon emissions as much as possible, calculating its carbon footprint will help it estimate its remaining emissions, and then the organization can use climate investment to offset its remaining emissions and complete its journey towards net zero carbon. Organizations may wish to… “Companies need to share their progress with stakeholders such as customers, investors and employees or may even be required to report their emissions by law, as carbon accounting enables companies to report their climate impact.”

Regarding the special procedures for carbon footprint accounting, El-Sherbiny explained that carbon accounting requires two things: They are: data collection and processing. In order for companies to be able to effectively account for their emissions, they must ensure that the data collection process they undertake is comprehensive, and that the data processing methodology they follow is sound, as carbon accounting relies on two sets of data: business activity data and describing Activities undertaken by companies and emission factor data that quantify greenhouse gas emissions. Once all the required data is collected, it can be translated into emissions estimates.

El-Sherbiny pointed out that the Global Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the most widely used standard for calculating the carbon footprint, and the accuracy of this estimate depends on the comprehensiveness of the calculated emission sources, the quality of the expenditure and activity data inputs, and the accuracy of the emission factors used.

In response to the question, “Why should companies use carbon footprint accounting?” El-Sherbiny said that calculating the carbon footprint is essential for any company that wants to reduce its carbon footprint. In addition to contributing to the fight against climate change, it also helps companies attract customers, investors and employees. Because calculating carbon emissions is the first step towards reducing emissions, allowing companies to switch to low-carbon activities or materials, but calculating value chain emissions can be a difficult task, as it involves collecting many types of data from many sources and then translating this. Data to total emissions; Value chain emissions make up a large portion of a company's carbon footprint, but they do not originate directly from the company. This makes it difficult to calculate and reduce them, and commercial companies, with suppliers numbering in the thousands, face particular difficulties in calculating value chain emissions.

El-Sherbiny revealed that using a hybrid methodology, companies can conduct a spending-based carbon footprint estimate to get an initial overview of the sources of emissions in their value chain, and then improve the assessment.

[reasonsforhope]

"With “green corridors” that mimic the natural forest, the Colombian city is driving down temperatures — and could become five degrees cooler over the next few decades.

In the face of a rapidly heating planet, the City of Eternal Spring — nicknamed so thanks to its year-round temperate climate — has found a way to keep its cool.

Previously, Medellín had undergone years of rapid urban expansion, which led to a severe urban heat island effect — raising temperatures in the city to significantly higher than in the surrounding suburban and rural areas. Roads and other concrete infrastructure absorb and maintain the sun’s heat for much longer than green infrastructure.

“Medellín grew at the expense of green spaces and vegetation,” says Pilar Vargas, a forest engineer working for City Hall. “We built and built and built. There wasn’t a lot of thought about the impact on the climate. It became obvious that had to change.”

Efforts began in 2016 under Medellín’s then mayor, Federico Gutiérrez (who, after completing one term in 2019, was re-elected at the end of 2023). The city launched a new approach to its urban development — one that focused on people and plants.

The $16.3 million initiative led to the creation of 30 Green Corridors along the city’s roads and waterways, improving or producing more than 70 hectares of green space, which includes 20 kilometers of shaded routes with cycle lanes and pedestrian paths.

These plant and tree-filled spaces — which connect all sorts of green areas such as the curb strips, squares, parks, vertical gardens, sidewalks, and even some of the seven hills that surround the city — produce fresh, cooling air in the face of urban heat. The corridors are also designed to mimic a natural forest with levels of low, medium and high plants, including native and tropical plants, bamboo grasses and palm trees.

Heat-trapping infrastructure like metro stations and bridges has also been greened as part of the project and government buildings have been adorned with green roofs and vertical gardens to beat the heat. The first of those was installed at Medellín’s City Hall, where nearly 100,000 plants and 12 species span the 1,810 square meter surface.

“It’s like urban acupuncture,” says Paula Zapata, advisor for Medellín at C40 Cities, a global network of about 100 of the world’s leading mayors. “The city is making these small interventions that together act to make a big impact.”

At the launch of the project, 120,000 individual plants and 12,500 trees were added to roads and parks across the city. By 2021, the figure had reached 2.5 million plants and 880,000 trees. Each has been carefully chosen to maximize their impact.

“The technical team thought a lot about the species used. They selected endemic ones that have a functional use,” explains Zapata.

The 72 species of plants and trees selected provide food for wildlife, help biodiversity to spread and fight air pollution. A study, for example, identified Mangifera indica as the best among six plant species found in Medellín at absorbing PM2.5 pollution — particulate matter that can cause asthma, bronchitis and heart disease — and surviving in polluted areas due to its “biochemical and biological mechanisms.”

And the urban planting continues to this day.

The groundwork is carried out by 150 citizen-gardeners like Pineda, who come from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds, with the support of 15 specialized forest engineers. Pineda is now the leader of a team of seven other gardeners who attend to corridors all across the city, shifting depending on the current priorities...

“I’m completely in favor of the corridors,” says [Victoria Perez, another citizen-gardener], who grew up in a poor suburb in the city of 2.5 million people. “It really improves the quality of life here.”

Wilmar Jesus, a 48-year-old Afro-Colombian farmer on his first day of the job, is pleased about the project’s possibilities for his own future. “I want to learn more and become better,” he says. “This gives me the opportunity to advance myself.”

The project’s wider impacts are like a breath of fresh air. Medellín’s temperatures fell by 2°C in the first three years of the program, and officials expect a further decrease of 4 to 5C over the next few decades, even taking into account climate change. In turn, City Hall says this will minimize the need for energy-intensive air conditioning...

In addition, the project has had a significant impact on air pollution. Between 2016 and 2019, the level of PM2.5 fell significantly, and in turn the city’s morbidity rate from acute respiratory infections decreased from 159.8 to 95.3 per 1,000 people [Note: That means the city's rate of people getting sick with lung/throat/respiratory infections.]

There’s also been a 34.6 percent rise in cycling in the city, likely due to the new bike paths built for the project, and biodiversity studies show that wildlife is coming back — one sample of five Green Corridors identified 30 different species of butterfly.

Other cities are already taking note. Bogotá and Barranquilla have adopted similar plans, among other Colombian cities, and last year São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America, began expanding its corridors after launching them in 2022.

“For sure, Green Corridors could work in many other places,” says Zapata."

-via Reasons to Be Cheerful, March 4, 2024

[thrivingisthegoal]

Golf Courses ARE Being Converted

The Solarpunk "fantasy" that so many of us tout as a dream vision, converting golf courses into ecological wonderlands, is being implemented across the USA according to this NYT article!

The article covers courses in Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, and New York that are being bought and turned into habitat and hiking trails.

The article goes more into detail about how sand traps are being turned into sand boxes for kids, endangered local species are being planted, rocks for owl habitat are being installed, and that as these courses become wilder, they are creating more areas for biodiversity to thrive.

Most of the courses in transition are being bought by Local Land Trusts. Apparently the supply of golf courses in the USA is way over the demand, and many have been shut down since the early 2000s. While many are bought up and paved over, land Trusts have been able to buy several and turn them into what the communities want: public areas for people and wildlife. It does make a point to say that not every hold course location lends itself well to habitat for animals (but that doesn't mean it wouldn't make great housing!)

So lets be excited by the fact that people we don't even know about are working on the solutions we love to see! Turning a private space that needs thousands of gallons of water and fertilizer into an ecologically oriented public space is the future I want to see! I can say when I used to work in water conservation, we were getting a lot of clients that were golf courses that were interested in cutting their resource input, and they ended up planting a lot of natives! So even the golf courses that still operate could be making an effort.

So what I'd encourage you to do is see if there's any land or community trusts in your area, and see if you can get involved! Maybe even look into how to start one in your community! Through land trusts it's not always golf course conversions, but community gardens, solar fields, disaster adaptation, or low cost housing! (Here's a link to the first locator I found, but that doesn't mean if something isn't on here it doesn't exist in your area, do some digging!)

[hope-for-the-planet]

Under what legal experts called a “historic” settlement, announced on Thursday, Hawaii officials will release a roadmap “to fully decarbonize the state’s transportation systems, taking all actions necessary to achieve zero emissions no later than 2045 for ground transportation, sea and inter-island air transportation”, Andrea Rodgers, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case, said at a press conference with the governor.

[slayfk]

posting here because this just doesn’t feel right to talk about in the horseimagebarn voice but this is extremely important to talk about.

my partner and i have returned to our hometown to stay with her family and my own has gotten a hotel here too (they moved to the town we currently live in after we did) so we are all safe and out of the thick of it

however there are tens of thousands of people who are not both in my own town and in the many surrounding it. appalachia will take an extremely long time to recover from this and there are more storms on the way. all i see on social media right now is people asking for shelter because their homes have been destroyed, or people asking for help searching for family members who are missing. hundreds of trees have fallen. hundreds of homes have flooded. roads are literally falling apart. preexisting sinkholes due to shitty pipes are opening up and consuming land. dams are on the verge of bursting and the only way to stop it is to release water so quickly it floods whole towns. all but one of our cell towers are down, so only people with at&t have service and the rest can’t contact anyone. over half the town still doesn’t have power. a major water supply issue occurred and the entire town is on a water boil order with no electricity to boil with. people are trapped in their homes and workplaces or out on the street because they have nowhere to go. law enforcement is blocking off roads but trapping people in the process. people have to be rescued by helicopter. our animal shelter has no water or power and boarding facilities have been flooded. entire villages like chimney rock nc are gone, and entire cities like asheville are cut off from the rest of the state and are completely inaccessible. ALL OF THE ROADS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA ARE CLOSED. 400+ roads are closed because they are unsafe . that is INSANE!!!

when people say that climate change isn’t real, they don’t know what they’re talking about. climate change and its father capitalism are only going to continue to worsen lives in every way possible. i live in the mountains and our infrastructure is completely unprepared to handle hurricanes and it’s only going to get worse. it’s such a strange and eye-opening experience to live something like this when you think that it could never happen to you because that type of weather shouldn’t reach you in your environment. climate change doesn’t care where you live. it’s real.

western north carolina and the rest of the southeast that has been hit by helene need help. more people need to be talking about this so that the government DOES SOMETHING because the government historically fucking hates appalachia and it still does!!! the major state institution near me took DAYS to respond despite being the only place in town with power and wifi connection because they had to wait for the state to approve their response—they could have allowed thousands of people to evacuate days prior to the hurricane hitting us but they didn’t do anything before or after until it was too late!!! it’s bullshit!!! PLEASE get talking about this because something has to be done. climate change is going to continue happening and our mountains and the people in them are going to suffer immensely. hundreds if not thousands are now homeless. please talk about this look at the footage online of the wreckage and look how quickly our infrastructure crumbled. we need better. the people of appalachia deserve better.

i’ll get back to posting horses soon. but for now this is a lot. my friends are homeless and my family had to get off the mountain or be trapped there without power and water for days. we’re all safe but exhausted. i hope everyone who has been affected by this is staying safe. if you are in western nc, dm me. when i come back, if you’re in my area, im happy to bring supplies. stay safe everyone

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put forward a new regulation to limit bank overdraft fees. The CFPB pointed out that the average overdraft fee is $35 even though majority of overdrafts are under $26 and paid back with-in 3 days. The new regulation will push overdraft fees down to as little as $3 and not more than $14, saving the American public collectively 3.5 billion dollars a year.

The Environmental Protection Agency put forward a regulation to fine oil and gas companies for emitting methane. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas, after CO2 and is responsible for 30% of the rise of global temperatures. This represents the first time the federal government has taxed a greenhouse gas. The EPA believes this rule will help reduce methane emissions by 80%

The Energy Department has awarded $104 million in grants to support clean energy projects at federal buildings, including solar panels at the Pentagon. The federal government is the biggest consumer of energy in the nation. The project is part Biden's goal of reducing the federal government's greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030. The Energy Department estimates it'll save taxpayers $29 million in the first year alone and will have the same impact on emissions as taking over 23,000 gas powered cars off the road.

The Education Department has cancelled 5 billion more dollars of student loan debt. This will effect 74,000 more borrowers, this brings the total number of people who've had their student loan debt forgiven under Biden through different programs to 3.7 Million

U.S. Agency for International Development has launched a program to combat lead exposure in developing countries like South Africa and India. Lead kills 1.6 million people every year, more than malaria and AIDS put together.

Congressional Democrats have reached a deal with their Republican counter parts to revive the expanded the Child Tax Credit. The bill will benefit 16 million children in its first year and is expected to lift 400,000 children out of poverty in its first year. The proposed deal also has a housing provision that could see 200,000 new affordable rental units

[politijohn]

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[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

[reasonsofclimatechange]

India's Eco-Fusion

India's Eco-Fusion: Blending Ancient Wisdom with Modern Green Techhttps://www.eoroe.com/blogs/indian-eco-fusion-blending-ancient-wisdom-with-modern-green-tech-part-i

[sayruq]

[markfaustus]

[reasonsforhope]

No paywall version here.

"Two and a half years ago, when I was asked to help write the most authoritative report on climate change in the United States, I hesitated...

In the end, I said yes, but reluctantly. Frankly, I was sick of admonishing people about how bad things could get. Scientists have raised the alarm over and over again, and still the temperature rises. Extreme events like heat waves, floods and droughts are becoming more severe and frequent, exactly as we predicted they would. We were proved right. It didn’t seem to matter.

Our report, which was released on Tuesday, contains more dire warnings. There are plenty of new reasons for despair. Thanks to recent scientific advances, we can now link climate change to specific extreme weather disasters, and we have a better understanding of how the feedback loops in the climate system can make warming even worse. We can also now more confidently forecast catastrophic outcomes if global emissions continue on their current trajectory.

But to me, the most surprising new finding in the Fifth National Climate Assessment is this: There has been genuine progress, too.

I’m used to mind-boggling numbers, and there are many of them in this report. Human beings have put about 1.6 trillion tons of carbon in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution — more than the weight of every living thing on Earth combined. But as we wrote the report, I learned other, even more mind-boggling numbers. In the last decade, the cost of wind energy has declined by 70 percent and solar has declined 90 percent. Renewables now make up 80 percent of new electricity generation capacity. Our country’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling, even as our G.D.P. and population grow.

In the report, we were tasked with projecting future climate change. We showed what the United States would look like if the world warms by 2 degrees Celsius. It wasn’t a pretty picture: more heat waves, more uncomfortably hot nights, more downpours, more droughts. If greenhouse emissions continue to rise, we could reach that point in the next couple of decades. If they fall a little, maybe we can stave it off until the middle of the century. But our findings also offered a glimmer of hope: If emissions fall dramatically, as the report suggested they could, we may never reach 2 degrees Celsius at all.

For the first time in my career, I felt something strange: optimism.

And that simple realization was enough to convince me that releasing yet another climate report was worthwhile.

Something has changed in the United States, and not just the climate. State, local and tribal governments all around the country have begun to take action. Some politicians now actually campaign on climate change, instead of ignoring or lying about it. Congress passed federal climate legislation — something I’d long regarded as impossible — in 2022 as we turned in the first draft.

[Note: She's talking about the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Act, which despite the names were the two biggest climate packages passed in US history. And their passage in mid 2022 was a big turning point: that's when, for the first time in decades, a lot of scientists started looking at the numbers - esp the ones that would come from the IRA's funding - and said "Wait, holy shit, we have an actual chance."]

And while the report stresses the urgency of limiting warming to prevent terrible risks, it has a new message, too: We can do this. We now know how to make the dramatic emissions cuts we’d need to limit warming, and it’s very possible to do this in a way that’s sustainable, healthy and fair.

The conversation has moved on, and the role of scientists has changed. We’re not just warning of danger anymore. We’re showing the way to safety.

I was wrong about those previous reports: They did matter, after all. While climate scientists were warning the world of disaster, a small army of scientists, engineers, policymakers and others were getting to work. These first responders have helped move us toward our climate goals. Our warnings did their job.

To limit global warming, we need many more people to get on board... We need to reach those who haven’t yet been moved by our warnings. I’m not talking about the fossil fuel industry here; nor do I particularly care about winning over the small but noisy group of committed climate deniers. But I believe we can reach the many people whose eyes glaze over when they hear yet another dire warning or see another report like the one we just published.

The reason is that now, we have a better story to tell. The evidence is clear: Responding to climate change will not only create a better world for our children and grandchildren, but it will also make the world better for us right now.

Eliminating the sources of greenhouse gas emissions will make our air and water cleaner, our economy stronger and our quality of life better. It could save hundreds of thousands or even millions of lives across the country through air quality benefits alone. Using land more wisely can both limit climate change and protect biodiversity. Climate change most strongly affects communities that get a raw deal in our society: people with low incomes, people of color, children and the elderly. And climate action can be an opportunity to redress legacies of racism, neglect and injustice.

I could still tell you scary stories about a future ravaged by climate change, and they’d be true, at least on the trajectory we’re currently on. But it’s also true that we have a once-in-human-history chance not only to prevent the worst effects but also to make the world better right now. It would be a shame to squander this opportunity. So I don’t just want to talk about the problems anymore. I want to talk about the solutions. Consider this your last warning from me."

-via New York Times. Opinion essay by leading climate scientist Kate Marvel. November 18, 2023.