Planet Week: Climate-fueled wildfires create a Western hellscape
Here’s what happened around the Planet last week.
Happy belated Labor Day!
We took last week off for some much-needed R&R (and for Brandon to move). But climate change didn’t stop. So for this Planet Week, we’ll round up the latest environmental news from the last week — and, at the end, include everything you may have missed before that.
Last week, the Atlantic hurricane season continued its record pace. Another study linked higher COVID-19 death rates to polluted areas. And new analysis showed how fast oil rigs are closing across the United States.
In case you missed it, here’s what else happened around the Planet:
Tuesday, September 8
Uber’s ambitious electric plan
On Tuesday, ride-sharing platform Uber announced a new target: to achieve zero-emissions by 2040. A major part of that goal is having all electric vehicles in the U.S., Europe, and Canada by 2030. To do that, Uber is sinking $800 million over the next five years into its Green Program.
“It’s our responsibility as the largest mobility platform in the world to more aggressively tackle the challenge of climate change,” wrote Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. “We want to do our part to build back better and drive a green recovery in our cities.”
Uber’s major competitor Lyft unveiled a similar plan back in June. Axios has the story.
Wednesday, September 9
The American West is a Cormac McCarthy novel
The summer keeps getting worse for those on the U.S. West Coast. A brutal heat wave, fueled by climate change, has created a recipe for disastrous wildfires.
So far, the wildfires have burned through an area the size of New Jersey, killing at least 28 people, sending smoke plumes to unseen heights, and painting the sky an apocalyptic orange. To give some more context: California’s fires have burned 2000% more acres than last year at this time; L.A. has seen its worst smog in 30 years; and the West Coast’s air quality is the worst on the Planet. This is all amid a pandemic driven by a virus that attacks respiratory systems.
Worse still, the fire season is just starting. The American West’s blazing hellscape is a testament to the devastating reality of climate change, which is not looming in the future, but in fact has already arrived. Track the fires and air quality in California, Oregon, and Washington at The New York Times.
WMO report: 2020 caps 5 hottest years on record
A new report by the World Meteorological Organization finds that 2020 will cap the hottest five years on record. And that’s despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused only a blip in global emissions.
“Greenhouse gas concentrations — which are already at their highest levels in 3 million years — have continue to rise, reaching new record highs this year,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Talaas, in the report’s foreword “This report shows that whilst many aspects of our lives have been disrupted in 2020, climate change has continued unabated.”
The report also warns that we have a 1-in-4 chance of surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming in the next five years, which would reel the world deeper into a climate crisis. To hit the marks set by the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world needs to cut emissions by 7% every year, a mark that, without a pandemic, requires intentional international coordination that does not yet exist. Read more at The Verge.
Climate change could spark a financial crisis
Trump’s own administration is warning of a climate-fueled financial crisis, reports The New York Times. A new report by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency that regulates markets, outlines what many of us already know: Climate change impacts could cost us a lot of money.
But the report also offers 53 recommendations to blunt this cost, notably calling carbon pricing, climate stress testing, and more sustainable finance. Congress has the authority to make these changes today but little political will. And given his track record, Trump is likely to ignore the entirety of this report if reelected.
Thursday, September 10
Severe floods hit Western and Central Africa
Countries across Western and Central Africa are already facing a climate-induced financial crisis: Recent flooding has damaged more than 500,000 hectares of farm land in Nigeria alone, racking up a $13 million tab.
And that’s just money tied to agriculture in one country. The true financial toll is likely much higher, as rains last week affected an estimated 760,000 people and left hundreds dead across 12 countries. Reuters has the full story.
Wildlife in catastrophic decline
Our misuse of the planet and its resources is taking a huge toll on wildlife, according to a new report. Between 1970 and 2016, populations plummeted 68%, with no signs of slowing down.
The study comes amid reports that most nations have failed to meet their biodiversity goals in recent years. This isn’t something we should slack on either — as biodiversity decreases, infectious diseases, like COVID-19, will come more frequently.
“One of the things that science has told us in the last decade so clearly is that we depend on intact natural systems and intact natural ecosystems, in all its component parts, to deliver those things we count on every day: clean air, clean water, pollination, a stable climate, food, healthy soils to produce the foods we eat,” Rebecca Shaw, chair of the report’s steering group, told Bloomberg. “And what this index tells you is a very important component of that health is declining and declining fast.”
Low-income families spend more on utilities
Poor households of color spend nearly four times as much on utilities as wealthy ones, reports Earther. COVID-19 and climate change highlight this disparity, as stimulus checks run out and the U.S. Senate drags its feet on another relief bill, while tens of millions are at risk of utility shut-offs by the end of this month.
“Even before the recession, many people with high energy burdens had to cut back on other necessities,” said Ariel Drehobl, lead author of the report, in a press release. “Many of the same communities that were struggling to pay bills before the global pandemic are being hit the hardest by job losses and could be at particular risk for shut-offs ahead.”
Bonus
Bats use baby talk
As if these flying puppies couldn’t get any cuter: New research suggests that bats use a different voice when calling to their babies (known as pups), similar to how humans use baby talk. Finding human behaviors in animals helps people gain a better understanding of and respect for species. Read the full story at Forbes.
And here’s everything else you may have missed from the last two weeks:
Big oil is trying to bring plastic to Africa
Power companies have dragged their feet on renewables
The U.S. unveiled a slew of environmental rollbacks (weakening coal regulations, easing oil and gas permitting in national forests, and removing wolf protections)
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump called himself “truly an environmentalist” (barf)
By the way, the U.S. has spent the most the most on COVID-19 stimulus — but the smallest share on green energy
On the campaign trail, U.S. Presidential Nominee Joe Biden faced pressure to remove fossil fuel reps from his campaign
Biden also proved there’s no ideal climate candidate when he doubled down on not banning fracking (though Biden’s still the obvious choice for those who prefer the Planet livable)
Renewable power can hurt biodiversity
Asphalt is making summer air pollution worse
Youth in Portugal sued 33 countries over climate impacts
And, last but not least, summer fires in the Arctic (yes, that Arctic) set a new emissions record
Have a great week.
— Brandon and Sam