Climate change is our greatest health threat
Over 230 medical journals issued an urgent warning: Unchecked climate change could have “catastrophic” consequences for global health.
Welcome to Planet Week, where we highlight the last week of environmental news and what it means for our Planet.
Last week, Hurricane Larry hit Newfoundland, the Planet’s biggest carbon-capture plant went online, and Super Typhoon Chanthu barreled toward China and the Philippines.
In case you missed it, here’s what else happened around the Planet:
Sunday, September 5
Climate change is our greatest health threat
On Sunday, over 230 medical journals issued an urgent warning: Unchecked climate change could have “catastrophic” consequences for global health. This is the first time so many publications have come together to make such a statement, underscoring how serious the threat is.
“The greatest threat to global public health is the continued failure of world leaders to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5° C and to restore nature,” the editorial said. “We, as editors of health journals, call for governments and other leaders to act, marking 2021 as the year that the world finally changes course.”
Monday, September 6
After Ida, oil spills spur water crisis
Hurricane Ida’s impacts continue to be felt. After making landfall in Louisiana two weeks ago, the storm has been a nightmare for millions of people struggling with downed power lines and deluged buildings and roadways. Add polluted water to that list.
Since Ida, the Coast Guard has received more than 2,000 reports of water pollution off the Gulf Coast — most notable is a miles-long slick, leaking from several underwater pipelines. Less than half of these reports have been investigated.
“Two thousand spills is an amazing and sad amount,” Darryl Malek-Wiley, an organizer with Sierra Club, told NOLA.com. “It shows that our oil and gas infrastructure is not prepared for hurricanes.”
Sharks, rays under threat
The number of shark and ray species facing extinction has more than doubled in less than a decade due to overfishing and climate change, according to a new study.
Chondrichthyans, like sharks, rays, and chimaeras, have survived at least five mass extinctions in their 420 million-year history. Now, 41% of the 611 ray species and 36% of 536 shark species are at risk of extinction. Read more from The Guardian.
Tuesday, September 7
COP controversy
The Planet’s next big international climate talks, COP26, will happen in November… or will they? Delayed a year because of COVID-19, COP26 is facing increasing scrutiny to be rescheduled again.
On Tuesday, Climate Action Network, which represents more than 1500 civil society orgs around the world, called for another delay. In a statement, the group said that unequal access to vaccines would exclude “many government delegates, civil society campaigners and journalists, particularly from Global South countries.”
The United Kingdom, which is hosting this year’s COP, immediately clapped back: “COP26 has already been postponed by one year, and we are all too aware climate change has not taken time off,” COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma said in a statement. “The recent IPCC report underlines why COP26 must go ahead this November.” Climate Home News has more.
Hot temp summer
It’s not just you — this summer has been really hot. Europe just experienced its hottest summer on record, and the United States felt its hottest summer since 1936 when the infamous Dust Bowl swept across the country.
As seen in this summer’s wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, and floods, these regions have also faced severe climate impacts. According to a new Washington Post analysis, nearly one in three Americans experienced a weather disaster this summer.
Wednesday, September 8
Keep fossil fuels in the ground
To hit our climate targets, we must stop extracting fossil fuels. New research quantifies just how many of these fuels must remain underground to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the target outlined in the Paris Agreement.
The research finds that 90% of the world’s coal reserves and 60% of its oil and gas must stay untouched. To get there, we must decrease global fossil fuel production by 3% a year through 2050. And such a decrease will still only give us a coin-flip shot at meeting our Paris goals.
“To avert catastrophic warming, the global community must rapidly reduce how much of these fuels it extracts and burns,” the authors write in The Conversation. “Our new paper, published in Nature, revealed just how tight the world’s remaining carbon budget is likely to be.”
Biden goes solar
The Biden administration is making its next climate push: solar power. On Wednesday, the Energy Department released a report that shows how the U.S. can produce 40% of its electricity from solar energy by 2035 — a 10-fold increase of solar’s current share of the grid.
Much of what’s actually possible will hinge on key climate provisions making it through the Democrats’ budget blueprint, which is set to be voted on, along with the bipartisan infrastructure bill, by September 27.
Also last week, the Biden administration struck a deal with airlines to slash 20% of aviation emissions 20% by 2030, mostly through advancing sustainable aviation fuels. E&E News has both stories
Bonus
Swimming for climate
Lewis Pugh, an endurance swimmer and ocean advocate, is raising awareness for COP26 by swimming in frigid waters. Over 12 days, in 32- to 37-degree waters, Pugh crossed the five-mile wide mouth of the Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland — where the fastest-moving glacier in the world, Jakobshavn, deposits its massive icebergs into the sea.
“I don’t want world leaders to worry about what’s happening here,” he told Axios. “I want them to have sleepless nights over the issue.”
Have a great week,
Brandon and Sam