[Feb 19-25'24] Litigation Terrorism

Climate change undoing air quality progress, heat pumps wins over fossil gas and a climate wall of shame.

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

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

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‼️News you can’t miss

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

🙀 Climate change is undoing decades of progress on air quality

😻 Heat pumps outsold fossil gas furnaces in the US last year

😼 A climate wall of shame

💩 Word of the week: Litigation terrorism

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👩‍⚕️ Status: Climate & Science

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

[#pollution] — New research shows that aerosol pollution has delayed the impact of climate change on rainfall and flooding in the United States. The presence of toxic aerosols in the atmosphere helped suppress the effects of climate change on rainfall for decades, but the passage of clean air laws, which removed these aerosols, has led to worsening floods. The study highlights the complex relationship between aerosols and greenhouse gases and warns that as aerosol emissions drop and greenhouse gases continue to rise, the unanticipated climate hazards could be revealed, resulting in stronger storms and more severe flooding.

[#pollution] — Climate change is causing winter inversions and worsening air quality, undoing decades of progress in reducing pollution. One in 4 Americans are now exposed to unhealthy air, and the trend is expected to continue. Stricter pollution limits and individual actions may not be enough to address the problem, as wildfires and their smoke contribute significantly to air pollution. The impact of air pollution is unevenly distributed, with low-income communities of color being disproportionately affected. Addressing air pollution requires political and social action at a national level.

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📰 The 7 Grand Challenges

⚡️Decarbonize Electricity

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

[#china] — China's 2025 climate commitments and targets in the energy sector are severely off track as of 2023. The country needs a record drop in CO2 emissions to meet its targets, including reducing carbon intensity by 7% per year, reducing energy intensity by 6% per year, limiting coal consumption growth, controlling new coal power projects, increasing the share of non-fossil energy sources, and meeting more than 50% of energy consumption growth with renewables. The government's response includes improving policies, curbing high-energy projects, and accelerating the deployment of renewable energy. While China has seen a boom in clean energy installations, meeting the targets still requires further acceleration in clean energy deployment or a slowdown in energy demand growth.

[#hydro] — Severe drought in the Pacific Northwest in 2023 caused a feedback loop that led to an increase in power sector emissions in the region. The reliance on hydropower, which was affected by the drought, resulted in less carbon-free power generation and the need to turn to coal and gas plants. This not only impacted the environment but also led to higher utility bills and worse air quality for residents. The trend of reduced hydropower output due to droughts is a larger concern for carbon-free power goals in the Western United States.

🏘 Reduce impact of urban and rural areas

Lowering the impact of urban and rural areas.