Planet Week: Despite lockdowns, CO2 levels hit new record
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, GM flipped to support California’s stricter fuel economy standards. The United Nations warned that more than 3 billion people face water shortages. And researchers found COVID-19 lockdowns are changing the tune of birdsongs.
In case you missed it, here’s what else happened around the Planet:
Sunday, November 22
Record cyclone hits Somalia
At least four people are dead after Tropical Cyclone Gati, Somalia’s strongest storm on record, hit the country with 105 mph sustained winds and dumped two years’ worth of rain in just a matter of days.
The cyclone passed the 39 mph threshold of tropical storm status just 12 hours before it made landfall, marking the largest 12-hour increase on record in the Indian Ocean. Scientists attributed this rapid intensification to climate change — which warms ocean waters and creates ripe conditions for destructive storms. Read more at NPR.
Monday, November 23
CO2 levels hit new record despite lockdown
COVID-19 lockdowns have reduced our emissions this year, but they’ve done little to affect the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere, according to the new Greenhouse Gas Bulletin by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The report says that greenhouse gases may fall 4.2–7.5% this year compared to 2019. At this rate — because of the cumulative effect of past and present greenhouse gases — global emission levels won’t decrease, but rather continue to increase, albeit at a slightly slower pace. The findings underline the urgent need for sustained and ambitious climate action.
“The lockdown-related fall in emissions is just a tiny blip on the long-term graph,” said WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas in a statement. We need a sustained flattening of the curve.” Read more in the BBC.
Tuesday, November 24
John Kerry named climate envoy
As president-elect, Joe Biden has continued to prioritize the climate crisis. On Tuesday, Biden named John Kerry as his special envoy to climate, a Cabinet-level position that will sit on the National Security Council. This marks the first time an official dedicated solely to climate will be on the council.
As former secretary of state, Kerry brings international experience essential to tackling the global climate crisis. In 2015, he helped draft the Paris Agreement, and in 2019, he co-founded the bi-partisan environmental group World War Zero.
Kerry’s appointment is just the latest string of appointees with climate experience, reports E&E News. Biden’s pick for treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, could also drive climate action in the financial sector, writes HuffPost.
Another bad outlook for oil
The bad news keeps coming for Big Oil. ExxonMobil cut its expectations for future oil prices for each of the next seven years by 11–17%, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The drop is due to several factors, most obviously the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. But other more long-term impacts are at play, including the rise of renewable alternatives and the trend of stricter climate regulations worldwide.
The documents show that more oil giants are coming to grips with the reality that oil’s heyday may very well be in the rearview (BP had a similar come-to-Jesus moment earlier this year).
Wednesday, November 25
Pebble Mine DENIED
Under the current U.S. administration, environmental wins come few and far between. But on Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a critical permit for the Pebble Mine in Alaska, likely dealing the final blow to the controversial project.
Agencies have gone back and forth on the project — which would have opened one of the world’s largest deposits of gold and copper ore to extraction but also threatened crucial breeding habitat for salmon in Bristol Bay — for more than a decade. But even with this good news, environmentalists know their work to protect the land is far from over.
“It doesn’t mean that those minerals aren’t going to be in the ground tomorrow,” Lindsay Layland, deputy director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay, told The New York Times. “We need to continue to push for long term and permanent protections down the road.”
Thursday, November 26
Are EVs not as good as we thought?
Because of their extensive production process, electric cars must be driven as many as 50,000 miles to match the carbon footprint of gas-powered cars. That’s according to research commissioned by vehicle and technology companies Honda, McLaren, Aston Martin and Bosch.
The study authors suggest that to green the transportation system, we must not only ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles (as was recently pledged by the United Kingdom) but also account for emissions over cars’ entire lifespans, reports The Times of London.
To be clear, this research (and past research) still finds that over their lifespan, electric vehicles (EV) emit three times less CO2 emissions than gas-powered automobiles. And EVs will still be necessary for any long-term climate commitment: This week in Planet Days, we wrote about how EVs are a staple of President-elect Joe Biden’s climate plan.
Friday, November 27
Foliage is under attack
New research published in Science suggests the climate crisis is making leaves fall earlier, complicating the longstanding belief that warmer temperatures push autumn later.
Researchers instead found that tree productivity increases as growing seasons lengthen, with earlier autumns restricting the amount of carbon trees can store. We know that climate change shifts seasons, and while exact impacts remain unclear, these findings add another crucial piece to an unfinished puzzle.
“The big challenge is that autumn has always been a bit of a mess,” said Christine Rollinson, an ecologist at the Morton Arboretum in Illinois, in an interview with The Guardian. “But understanding how well a tree grows during the season really helps explain that tree-to-tree variation. What is particularly amazing about the study is how it provides such different lines of evidence to reach the same conclusion.”
Bonus
I’ll have what he’s having
As it turns out, humans aren’t the only animals that like a stiff cocktail — lots of other species get intoxicated by chewing on fermented fruits. And sometimes, if we’re lucky, we get to catch them in action: Last week, one viral video showed a squirrel, who may have had a few too many (pears), struggling to stay awake.
Don’t worry, though, the woman who took the video said she saw the little fellow the next day and it was completely fine.
Have a great week,
Brandon and Sam