Planet Week: Businesses pressure Biden on climate goals
Welcome to Planet Week, where we highlight the last week of environmental news and what it means for our Planet.
Welcome to Planet Week, where we highlight the last week of environmental news and what it means for our Planet.
Last week, Beijing saw its third sandstorm in five weeks. Japan announced it would start releasing treated Fukushima water. And the United States and China agreed to work together on climate action.
In case you missed it, here’s what else happened around the Planet:
Saturday, April 10
France closer to banning short flights
Flights are a major contributor to the climate crisis. Now, France is trying to mitigate some of those damages. Last weekend, lawmakers passed a ban on short-haul flights if the same journey can be completed by train in under two-and-a-half hours (the bill still needs to pass in the Senate).
Some, however, are pressuring France to revise the ban to four hours, as was initially discussed. French consumer agency UFC-Que Choisir says that planes emit an average of 77 times more CO2 per passenger than trains on those same routes. BBC News has more.
Sunday, April 11
Cyclone Seroja slams into Australia
Late Sunday, Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which recently brought destruction to Indonesia, slammed into Western Australia. The storm came with 100-plus mph winds, damaging 70% of buildings in Kalbarri, a small resort town, and leaving more than 30,500 people without power, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
As the town addresses the damages, they should also rebuild for a climate-changed future, as Jonathan Notts, a geography professor at James Cook University, writes in The Conversation.
Meanwhile, Super Typhoon Surigae just hit 190 mph, making it the earliest super typhoon ever observed in the western Pacific, reports The Washington Post. Surigae is projected to clip the Philippines early this week.
Monday, April 12
Microplastics are spiraling around the globe
Microplastics are hitching rides to the Planet’s jet streams and traveling across continents, according to new research. That poses potential health problems, as we continue to eat, breathe, and drink more and more microplastics.
The research specifically studies airborne microplastics, often overlooked in favor of ocean or river plastics. The study finds that much of this plastic comes not from population centers but from roads, where plastics from tires, brake pads, and litter are swept up by winds.
“The atmosphere is a great distributor [of microplastics],” earth sciences professor Andreas Stohl, who was not part of the study, told The Guardian. “It transports plastic particles to regions where we definitely don’t want to have them: agricultural fields, national parks, oceans, the Arctic, even Antarctica.”
Tuesday, April 13
Businesses pressure Biden on climate goals
More than 300 businesses signed an open letter to President Biden, calling for a 50% cut in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. Signatories include some of America’s biggest brands, such as Walmart, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks.
“To restore the standing of the U.S. as a global leader, we need to address the climate crisis at the pace and scale it demands,” the letter reads. “Specifically, the U.S. must adopt an emissions reduction target that will place the country on a credible pathway to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.”
Separately, dozens of European leaders made a similar appeal to Biden last week, calling for a “just and sustainable transition” toward a low-carbon economy. Both letters come a week before the White House’s Leaders Climate Summit, where Biden is expected to announce new goals for slashing emissions. NPR has more.
Wednesday, April 14
Superfund sites leave decades of damage
Two new studies suggest, unsurprisingly, that living near Superfund sites — locations so polluted that they require long-term clean-ups — is bad for your health and longevity.
The first, published in Nature Communications, estimates that living near one of these sites could lead to two months of lowered life expectancy, and when researchers accounted for the health and socioeconomic disparities in the surrounding neighborhoods, this number jumped to 15 months. Earther has the full story.
The other study finds that women whose pregnant grandmothers were exposed to the toxic chemical DDT have higher rates of obesity and start menstruation earlier, two conditions that could increase risk for other health issues. E&E News has more.
Thursday, April 15
JPMorgan and Citi pledge trillions for climate action
Two major U.S. banks have heeded President Biden’s calls for climate action, reports Bloomberg. On Thursday, JPMorgan Chase committed $2.5 trillion to advance climate action and sustainable development by 2030, while Citigroup pledged $1 trillion for similar efforts.
The funds would largely go to renewable energy and clean technologies, along with other environmental initiatives, such as water conservation and sustainable agriculture. Other funds will go to education, affordable housing, gender equality, and racial equity.
But don’t let these banks off the hook for their dirty histories. According to the Rainforest Action Network, JPMorgan is the world’s top funder of fossil fuels, financing nearly $317 billion for the fossil fuel industry from 2016–2020. Meanwhile, Mother Jones finds that JPMorgan secretly emailed the Trump administration about bailing out Big Oil at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Climate change drives stronger, more erratic Indian monsoons
In a typical monsoon season, India sees up to 80% of its yearly rainfall in a span of four months. Farmers depend on a healthy pour, but too much can be a bad thing — and a new study finds that each degree of global warming will likely increase rainfall by 5%.
Instead of leading to increased yield, the rain could wash away crucial crops in a country where farming makes up 20% of the economy. Though we’ve already surpassed one degree Celsius of warming since the Industrial Revolution, it’s not too late to change things.
“The summer monsoon is even more sensitive to global warming than previously thought,” lead author Anja Katzenberger told Deutsche Welle. “We have the power to shape the intensity of these changes via [our] greenhouse gas emissions.”
Bonus
A birders’ spring guide
Spring is in full swing, and that means billions of birds are out singing. If you’re an enthusiast in the U.S. but are feeling a little overwhelmed at the sheer number of our avian friends, don’t worry. The New York Times has a handy guide to track your favorite birds.
Have a great week,
Brandon and Sam