Planet Week: Food is killing wildlife and biodiversity
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, youth climate activists voiced support for Indian farmers in their face-off with the government. United States President Joe Biden freed up billions in storm aid to Puerto Rico. And a Parisian court held France responsible for climate inaction.
In case you missed it, here’s what else happened around the Planet:
Sunday, January 31
Cyclone Ana batters Fiji
Tropical Cyclone Ana battered Fiji last weekend, bringing heavy rains, 87 mph winds, and flooding to the Pacific islands. In its wake, the category 2 storm left one person dead, five people missing, and 10,000 people in evacuation centers, reports The Guardian.
This is the second deadly cyclone for Fiji in just over a month. In December, Cyclone Yasa, a category 5 storm, left four people dead.
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who has been outspoken about climate change impacts, wrote on Twitter, “Today, my priority is on Fijians’ safety — but the rest of the world needs to wake up and reckon with why this is happening.”
Tuesday, February 2
Sea level rise is worse than we thought
Sea levels are rising faster and greater than we thought, according to a new study. Focusing on climate sensitivity and historical models, researchers found that sea level rise could hit 1.35 meters by 2100, about 25 centimeters higher than previous estimates. Of course, much of that depends on how much emissions we spew over the next 80 years.
“The most unpredictable thing is human behavior, I think,” Aslak Grinsted, lead author of the study, told Mongabay. “And then secondly what will happen to Antarctica.”
Cleaner air, warmer Planet?
The COVID-19 pandemic halted human activity last year, causing a reduction in Planet-cooling pollutants called aerosols. So despite a 7% drop in global CO2 emissions, many places around the world were actually 0.2–0.5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in spring 2020 than expected, according to a new study.
This unusual heating effect isn’t something to worry about, though: The long-term benefits of reducing heat-trapping gasses like CO2 will vastly outweigh any temporary rise in temperatures from reducing aerosols. Axios has more.
ExxonMobil under pressure
ExxonMobil is being attacked on all sides. Investors are grappling with the oil giant’s fourth straight quarter in the red, with losses over $20 billion last quarter, reports CNBC. And activists are getting on its case for climate inaction.
To respond, ExxonMobil promised to invest $3 billion in carbon capture and storage technologies by 2025 — though, as Bloomberg points out, most of these investments aren’t really new. And, as The Wall Street Journal reports, the company is now planning board changes to focus more on sustainable investments.
American cities underreporting carbon footprints
A new study published in the journal Nature Communications found U.S. cities are underreporting their emissions by an average of 18.3%, potentially keeping urban areas from meeting key climate targets in the future.
Some of the biggest outliers were Los Angeles, whose self-reported emissions were off roughly 50%, as well as Chicago and New York, who both undershot by around 20%. The discrepancies were attributed to differences in resources and processes between cities, but the effects are nonetheless important.
“The absence of an accurate emissions assessment makes prioritizing mitigation policy options difficult, can lead to misallocation of scarce mitigation resources, and presents challenges to independent assessment and course correction,” the authors wrote. Read more by E&E News.
Wednesday, February 3
Food is killing wildlife and biodiversity
The global food system is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss, threatening 86% of the 28,000 species at risk of extinction, finds a new United Nations-backed report. Our appetite for cheap food is the main culprit here: Industrial agriculture stresses ecosystems, clearing land and using fertilizers, energy, and natural resources.
“The more we drive food production, the cheaper food becomes, and the more our diets become dominated by a smaller number of crops grown intensively and at scale,” Tim Benton, one of the report’s authors, told CNN.
To solve this problem, the report suggests conserving more land, investing in more sustainable farming, and shifting to more plant-based diets. In Planet Days last week, we suggested some plant-based recipes for your Super Bowl Sunday. Even though football is over, the Planet never takes a day off — so give it a break by using these recipes throughout the year.
Thursday, February 4
Declare a climate emergency already
Calls for U.S. President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency are heating up. In late-January Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) floated the idea. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has also backed the notion.
Last week, a trio of politicians put it in writing: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced legislation that would require Biden to declare a national emergency on climate change, reports The Hill. Among other things, the bill would unlock 100 additional presidential powers, injecting new life into Biden’s ambitious climate plan and even the Green New Deal.
By the way, declaring a climate emergency isn’t uncommon — over 30 countries have already made such declarations. The Phoenix dives deeper.
Bonus
A panda snow day
The biggest snowstorm in nearly two years brought residents of Washington, D.C., a much-needed respite — there was lots of sledding, snowball fighting, and time spent outdoors. And we’re not just talking about humans.
Many animals at the Smithsonian National Zoo, including giant and red pandas, are native to and active in cold environments. They could be seen frolicking in these must-see videos.
Have a great week.
— Brandon and Sam