[Oct 30-Nov 5'23] Fine dining offsets?

5 years to 1.5C, nudging scheme for fine dining, health and warming trade-off and France biggest carbon bomb supporter.

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.

🙀 We may only have 5 years before we pass 1.5C

😻 A nudging scheme for fine dining is being tested in London, kind of a fine dining offset

😼 Trade-off: As the air gets cleaner, less particulate matter blocks the sun

💩 France named biggest supporter of ‘carbon bomb’ extraction projects

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👩‍⚕️ Status: Climate & Science

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

[#acceleration] — A new study, including former NASA scientist James Hansen, suggests that global warming may be happening more quickly than previously thought. The study warns that the planet could exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming this decade and warm by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. Dr. Hansen stated that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees is unlikely, but the 2 degrees goal could still be met with concerted action to stop using fossil fuels.

[#5years] — New estimates from climate scientists indicate that humans have about five years to limit carbon emissions before surpassing the most ambitious limit set by the Paris Agreement. The calculations suggest that current emission reduction efforts are insufficient to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. While the most promising paths to meet this target are no longer available, updated emissions data can still help governments work towards less ambitious climate goals. The risk of heat waves, floods, crop failures, species extinctions, and wildfires increases with each increment of warming, highlighting the importance of every tenth of a degree in temperature reduction.

[#methanetundra] — A new study conducted by NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) has found that tundra areas in Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta that have been scorched by wildfires emit more methane than unburned areas. Methane hot spots were 29% more likely to occur in burned tundra, and the correlation tripled in areas where fires reached the edge of a water body. The study used NASA's AVIRIS-NG instrument to detect methane hot spots and found roughly 2 million hot spots across the Arctic landscape. The findings highlight the potential for increased methane emissions and more frequent wildfires in the tundra due to climate warming.

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📰 The 7 Grand Challenges

⚡️Decarbonize Electricity

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

[#solarwaste] — In the context of the solar waste problem, concerns about waste from solar farms in rural communities are being exaggerated. While solar panels have finite lifetimes and end up in landfills, the scale of photovoltaic waste is relatively small compared to other types of waste. Coal ash, electronic waste, and oily sludge contribute significantly more waste than solar panels. Additionally, the toxic waste from solar panels is much smaller than previously thought, with only trace amounts of lead and a stable cadmium compound being potential concerns. The researchers suggest investing in longer-lasting panels and better recycling programs to reduce waste and decarbonize the PV supply chain.

🏘 Reduce impact of urban and rural areas

Lowering the impact of urban and rural areas.

[#solarev] — A YouTuber has demonstrated the possibility of self-charging cars that are cheap and environmentally friendly. By using e-bike parts, solar panels, and a simple frame, the YouTuber created a solar-powered car that can travel up to 60 miles with no solar charging and even further with solar panels. The project cost $5000 Canadian and shows the potential for affordable solar-powered electric transport. Fun project but let’s see this in a slightly bigger scale here before we celebrate.

🛁 Clean non-electrifiable activities

Some activities we do today can’t be electrified, these must be cleaned some other way.

[#plastic] — A new report by Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) argues that chemical recycling is a "false solution" to the plastic pollution crisis. The report highlights the limited capacity and underperformance of chemical recycling facilities in the United States, as well as the environmental and social impacts of these operations. It calls for a nationwide moratorium on new chemical recycling facilities and stricter regulation. The report also draws parallels between chemical recycling and carbon capture and storage, emphasizing the need for policymakers to critically evaluate these solutions.