[Feb 10-16'25] 🔥1.5°C: The Threshold We Couldn't Hold

... But Here's Who's Still Fighting

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Weekly Climate 🎉

References: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] and [6].

So much about Trump these days, that this newsletter should probably change it’s title to “The Weekly Trump in Climate” or something. 😰

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‼️News you can’t miss

Here’s one important scary/bad (🙀), good (😻), interesting (😼) and fossil (💩) news item.

🙀 #1.5DegreeThreshold: Global temperatures have already exceeded 1.5°C for 12 consecutive months, signaling an early breach of the Paris Agreement threshold with potentially irreversible consequences.

😻 #CleanAirZones: Clean air zones implementation shows immediate positive impact, saving thousands of lives and significantly reducing hospital visits while improving public health.

😼 #AtmosphericRivers: Unusual phenomenon of atmospheric rivers bringing rain instead of snow to West Antarctica, revealing new climate change impacts.

💩 #AlbertaEnergyRegulator: Alberta's energy regulator caught dramatically underreporting spills with only 3.2% inspected, while falsely claiming 75% perfect recovery rates.

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👩‍⚕️ Status: Climate & Science

Let’s look at how we’re doing this week!

#ParisAgreement: The Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius is increasingly seen as unattainable, with new studies indicating that the world may have already surpassed this threshold. Experts argue that focusing on arbitrary temperature targets can foster fear and cynicism, suggesting a shift towards long-term decarbonization efforts and sustainable development goals instead of strict deadlines.

#AtmosphericRivers: Atmospheric rivers are causing rain in West Antarctica, impacting ice shelves and potentially accelerating sea level rise. These events can lead to significant snowfall and rare rain, which may become more frequent with climate change, affecting glacier dynamics and ice resilience.

#1.5DegreeThreshold: Global mean surface temperatures exceeded 1.5 °C for 12 consecutive months as of June 2024, indicating a potential early breach of the Paris Agreement threshold. Climate models suggest that long-term exceedance may have already occurred, influenced by factors like recent El Niño conditions and unaccounted external forcings.

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📰 The 7 Grand Challenges

⚡️Decarbonize Electricity

Clean electricity is the one do-or-die challenge we must solve.

#CleanEnergy: Despite Trump's efforts to undermine clean energy initiatives, the momentum towards renewable energy sources is strong, supported by bipartisan investments and a robust energy economy. His administration's actions may face resistance from within his own party, particularly in Republican districts benefiting from clean energy projects.

#RenewableEnergy: The US experienced record growth in renewable energy capacity in 2024, driven by the Inflation Reduction Act, but future growth is threatened by Trump's pledge to cut federal support for clean power, particularly impacting the wind industry while solar and battery sectors thrive. Local officials are urging Congress to maintain renewable energy tax credits.

🏘 Reduce impact of urban and rural areas

Lowering the impact of urban and rural areas.

#EnergyEfficiency: Trump plans to roll back Biden-era lightbulb efficiency standards, reinstating older incandescent bulbs and weakening regulations for other appliances, as part of a broader push against energy efficiency initiatives and in favor of fossil fuels.

#DataCenters: Utilities are reversing plans to retire coal plants due to rising electricity demand from data centers, raising concerns among environmental advocates about increased fossil fuel reliance and the validity of demand forecasts. This trend reflects a national pattern as utilities scramble to accommodate the booming data center industry.

#EVCharging: Despite federal funding freezes, New York's electric vehicle charging infrastructure will continue to expand through private initiatives and state programs, as companies like Voltpost adapt and focus on local partnerships to support the transition to electric vehicles.

🌳 Protect and grow nature

Nature is our ally, we must protect it and help it help us.