THE BRIEF [Jan 8-14'24]
THE BRIEF [Jan 8-14'24]
State of the climate 2023, succesful climate activism in 2023, price of carbon emissions in 2022 was ridiculous and new fossil fuel ad campaign.
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Weekly Climate 🎉
References: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] and [6].
If you’re only getting The Brief but want to get the full version of the newsletter be sure to upgrade your plan to paid. Check out the preview that you will receive to see why more than 30 people think it’s worth paying for. And see a recent week’s full newsletter for details for why I decided to go paid.
If you’re getting both: Thank you so much for deciding to upgrade to go paid 🙏. And thanks to everybody for reading my newsletter regardless of which version you read 🤗.
‼️News you can’t miss
Here’s one important scary/bad (🙀), good (😻), interesting (😼) and fossil (💩) news item.
🙀 The State of the climate 2023 report: Record-breaking surface and ocean temperatures
😻 Here’s a highlight of succesful climate activism in 2023
😼 Price of carbon emissions dropped significantly in 2022
💩 New fossil fuel campaign targets fears of energy security
This week’s highlights
[#2023] — The State of the Climate in 2023 saw record-breaking surface temperatures and ocean heat. Climate models and observations showed that temperatures in 2023 were in the upper quartile of model assessments. Greenhouse gas concentrations reached new highs, with CO2 being the largest contributor to global surface temperature increase. Sea levels continued to rise, driven by melting land ice and thermal expansion of water. Glacier and ice sheet loss, particularly in Greenland, contributed to sea level rise. Antarctic sea ice reached record-low levels, while Arctic sea ice remained within the historical range. Looking ahead to 2024, predictions indicate that it is likely to be slightly warmer than 2023. However, the long-term trend of increasing global temperatures driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases remains a significant concern.
[#renewables] — A new report from the International Energy Agency reveals that global renewable energy capacity is projected to fall short of the tripling target set at the COP28 conference. Despite the plummeting costs of renewable technology, challenges such as high interest rates and supply chain disruptions are hindering the growth of renewables. Additional policy interventions and financing are needed to meet the target, especially in the wind industry. Long permitting timelines and the need for funding in developing countries are also highlighted as challenges in the transition to renewable energy.
[#cop29host] — The United Nations climate summit COP29 will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, a country with a significant historical connection to the oil industry. Azerbaijan's oil industry played a crucial role in the development of the modern oil industry, and the country still has vast natural gas reserves. While Azerbaijan's fossil fuel sector is a major contributor to its economy, it also leads to corruption and human rights abuses. The hosting of COP29 in Azerbaijan highlights Europe's continued dependence on oil and gas, despite its climate policy goals. Additionally, the increasing number of rocket launches for the space race is raising concerns about pollution and its impact on the atmosphere.
That’s it for this week folks!
If you want more details or simply think my newsletter rocks remember that you can always go paid to get the full version of the Weekly Climate. But before you do, ask yourself this question: Does it provide you with 1.25$ worth of value every week? Obviously I think it does. In fact I really hope that just the time alone I save you should easily cover those 1.25$. Don’t hesitate to ping me on michael@weeklyclimate.com or comment below with any questions, feedback or comments regarding this.
Remember if you’re feeling down, angry or sad from some of the news in this newsletter one cure is to act. And one way you can always act that also happens to be one of the most powerful things you can do is to talk about it. That also works if what you just read made you hopeful or happy btw.
If you enjoyed this newsletter don’t forget to share it with your friends, coworkers or other people you think could benefit from getting it. If you got directed here by a friend or another link on the Internet don’t forget to subscribe!
See you all next week 👋