THE BRIEF [Jul 3-9’23]
THE BRIEF [Jul 3-9’23]
We should prepare for crop failures, Kenyan bank to finance 100.000 EVs, June’23 saw many climate red flags and fossil fuel company running COP28 planned green rebranding.
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.
🙀 New study says the world should prepare for significant crop failures
😻 Kenyan bank to finance 100.000 electric tuktuks and bikes
😼 June 2023 saw many key global climate indicators with flashing red lights
💩 The fossil fuel company in charge of COP28 was planning to drop “oil” from their name due to reputation issues
This week’s highlights
[#junetippingpoints] — June 2023 saw many key global indicators flashing red warning lights, with Earth's critical reflective polar ice caps at their lowest extent on record, the hottest June ever measured, and oceans setting records for warmth on the surface and down to more than 6,000 feet deep throughout the month. Climate scientists warn that these extraordinary extremes could be an early warning of tipping points towards different weather or sea ice or fire regimes, and the tropical Pacific Ocean is shifting into the warm El Niño phase of a two- to seven-year Pacific Ocean cycle that can boost the average global temperature by 0.2 degrees Celsius, enough to stoke the planet's fever to a dangerous new high.
[#shippingemissions] — In order to reduce air pollution from shipping fuels, the industry employed so called low-sulphur fuels to deal with that problem. However, the shift to low-sulphur shipping fuel has weakened the masking effect of sulphur particles in ships' exhaust fumes, effectively giving a boost to warming. Carbon Brief analysis shows that the likely side-effect of the 2020 regulations to cut air pollution from shipping is to increase global temperatures by around 0.05C by 2050, equivalent to approximately two additional years of emissions. While this will contribute to warming and make it even more difficult to avoid exceeding 1.5C in the coming decades, a number of other factors are likely contributing to the ocean heatwave.
[#homeless] — Wildfire smoke is a serious air pollution problem for homeless people, who are often exposed to air pollution 24/7 due to living under highway overpasses or closer to industrial areas. The recent smoke from Canadian wildfires has exacerbated the issue, and unhoused people are often left to navigate confusing rules and regulations to receive help. The situation is worsened by climate change, which has led to more dangerous conditions with long-term effects. While some cities have expanded shelter hours and handed out masks during air quality crises, the most effective solution is to provide more housing. Should be noted though that this is obviously not only a problem in the case of wildfire smoke but also in relation to burning fossil fuels.
[#economy] — Canada's recent wildfires have upended oil and gas operations, reduced timber harvests, dampened tourism, and imposed uncounted costs on the national health system. The economic toll of climate change is becoming more apparent as countries around the world experience disaster after disaster caused by extreme weather. Climate-related costs are expected to mount to 25 billion Canadian dollars in 2025, cutting economic growth in half, and by midcentury, a loss of 500,000 jobs is forecasted. The insurance industry is on alert, having watched the increasing damage in recent years with alarm. The mounting cost of catastrophic events in Canada is pushing the industry to call for a comprehensive adaptation strategy.
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 👋