THE BRIEF [Mar 25-31'24]
THE BRIEF [Mar 25-31'24]
Fertilizer spill kills, EV adoption pass important tipping point, planting trees worse in some areas and 4x fossil fuels by 2030.
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.
🙀 Remember this when you see farmers protesting in the streets
😻 The EV revolution has passed an important tipping point in 31 countries
😼 Planting trees can make warming worse in some areas
💩 Quadrupling of fossil fuels by 2030 expected
This week’s highlights
[#fertilizerkills] — Whenever you see farmers protesting in the streets, remember this one: A fertilizer spill in Iowa resulted in the death of an estimated 789,000 fish across a 60-mile stretch of rivers in two states. The spill, caused by a valve left open at an agricultural business, is one of the region's most ecologically devastating chemical spills in recent years. The ecosystem could take decades to recover, and water contamination from agricultural nitrates remains a longstanding issue in Iowa.
[#EUgas] — European governments' expansion of fossil gas infrastructure is accelerating climate breakdown and increasing reliance on hostile regimes, contradicting recommendations to decarbonize electricity grids. Only 2% of Europe's gas capacity has a planned retirement date, and new projects will increase gas generation capacity by 27%. Campaigners urge governments to send a clear message to the gas industry and highlight the risks of volatile power prices, toxic emissions, and stranded assets. The analysis also reveals that Italy, the UK, and Germany have the greatest capacity for electricity generation from fossil gas, despite commitments to decarbonize their power sectors.
[#USfossil] — A new report reveals that fossil fuel producers, led by the US, are on track to quadruple oil and gas extraction from newly approved projects by the end of the decade. This surge of activity threatens to undermine the Paris climate goals and push global heating beyond the 1.5C threshold. Despite warnings and commitments, the industry continues to sanction new projects, jeopardizing efforts to combat climate change.
[#landfillmethane] — A recent study reveals that U.S. landfills emit methane at levels at least 40 percent higher than previously reported, with most of the pollution coming from leaks. These super-emitting points can persist for months or even years and account for almost 90 percent of all measured methane emissions. Current monitoring protocols often fail to detect these hotspots, highlighting the need for improved detection and mitigation strategies. Landfills remain the third biggest source of methane emissions in the United States, contributing to global warming and posing health risks to nearby communities.
That’s it for this week folks!
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See you all next week 👋