[ad_1]
Climate action dominated the diplomatic showdown at the United Nations General Assembly session this week.
On Tuesday, Day 1 came significant new commitments from the United States and China, competitors on the world stage, as well as the two largest economies and, in many ways, the two largest planet-warming gas emitters that hold the keys to reining in the global climate. warming.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said that his country will come. stop building coal-fired power plants abroad. This is very important because China is the largest funder of coal projects in the world. President Biden said he would seek support from Congress. increase climate assistance for developing countries, to $11.4 billion per year by 2024. This is key amid growing anger at the rich world’s failure to meet its commitment to provide $100 billion a year to help poorer countries tackle climate change.
Both commitments are important ahead of the United Nations-led climate talks in Scotland in November. The United States is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in history. China currently produces the largest share of emissions.
But both commitments come with their limits.
China, the world’s coal monster, has said nothing about slowing or halting coal plant construction at home.
As for the United States’ climate aid announcement, it’s unclear whether the White House will be able to get Congressional blessings to allocate this new money. Even so, advocacy groups said the amount was well below America’s fair share.
quotation: “The United States is very understaffed as it still owes money and this needs to be increased urgently,” Mohamed Adow, director of the defense group Power Shift Africa, said in an emailed statement. “As the world’s largest historical and current polluter, the United States is responsible for the climate crisis that is destroying lives and livelihoods around the world.”
Democrat who could upset Biden’s climate plans
Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia has close political and financial ties to the fossil fuel industry. And as chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, he also has the power to remake President Biden’s climate legislation.
It looks like he’s getting ready to do just that.
President Biden wants the $3.5 trillion budget bill in Congress to include aggressive climate measures that will force utilities to stop burning fossil fuels and switch to wind, solar or nuclear power, which are power sources that don’t release planet-warming greenhouse gases.
But Manchin, whose state ranks second in coal production and seventh in natural gas production, and owns a profitable stake in a coal brokerage company, is preparing to write the climate part of the budget bill to get natural gas flowing to power. plants, according to people familiar with his thinking.
You can do read the full story here.
quotation: Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences at Princeton, said the proposals under consideration by Manchin would “hold fossil fuels as the main engine of the economy longer than the climate can handle.”
Comedy for Climate Week. Seriously.
You probably don’t think of climate change as a comedy goldmine, but a group seven midnight shows take the issue Anyway, Wednesday night. Can’t save them all? No problem. Get the highlights of the Thursday morning Times Best of the Night page.
Our virtual event series continues
Also on Thursday, join the final episode of our virtual event series, Netting Zero. Featuring Times climate reporter Brad Plumer and other experts, this panel will look at possible solutions to reduce emissions from international freight and industry. You can do register here.
A new face at Team Climate
The good news: Times reporter Cara Buckley, who was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team in 2018, taking on a new role as a climate reporter. Cara will focus on how people around the world are living on a warming planet, looking at the scientists, entrepreneurs, policy makers and visionaries who are doing extraordinary work to tackle the climate challenge.
A first: federal guidelines on workplace heat hazards
The Biden administration is launching an effort among federal agencies to address the health effects of extreme temperatures. first federal rule governing heat exposure, as part of the growing recognition of the dangers posed by global warming.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the Department of Labor, will draft the new rule on heat exposure aimed at protecting workers in industries such as agriculture, construction and delivery services. It will also include workers working in warehouses, factories and kitchens.
Experts said the new rules, which may include terms of stopping some outdoor work when the heat index rises above a certain level, are delayed but could bring costs to the industry.
Why is it important: According to National Weather Service, extreme heat is the country’s #1 weather-related killer.
Also important this week:
And finally:
The invisible impact of fires: More greenhouse gases
Forest fires produce more than smoke. Like anything else that burns, when trees and other vegetation are on fire, it releases carbon dioxide, which traps heat. And, as I wrote this week, they can publish many: California wildfires from June to August released more than 75 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to European climate researchers.
But how much does this contribute to global warming? Once this amount Pale compared to 30 plus billion The burning of fossil fuels for energy produces tons of gas every year. And forests regrow after a fire, new trees take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form their tissues. For decades, this can offset most or all of the carbon dioxide released in a fire.
So perhaps the impact of forest fires on warming is minimal. But there’s a caveat: The higher the frequency of wildfires, the greater the chance that a once-burned forest will burn again before it’s fully healed. This means it will take longer (a study proposed for more than a century) for forests to remove as much carbon dioxide as they are emitted by burning. Thus, the excess remains in the atmosphere longer, contributing to warming there.
If you don’t get Climate Fwd: in your inbox can register here.
We would love your feedback on the newsletter. We read every message and reply to many! Please email your thoughts and suggestions. climate team@nytimes.com.
[ad_2]
Source link