Note to readers: Due to family priorities this past week, this post will be an abbreviated digest.
As I write this update, the rapid onset of climate change and its impacts are clear. Take a quick look at news headlines from around the world:
From Reuters: Hundreds die of extreme heat on haj pilgrimage, reports say
From NBC News: At least 50 deaths blamed on India heat wave in just a week as record temperatures scorch the country
From India Express (YouTube video): Heatwave In Delhi: Birds, Bats Drop Dead As Brutal Heatwave Scorches North India | Heat Wave 2024
From Climate Central: Intense, persistent heat wave across Midwestern and Eastern U.S. influenced by climate change“This severity of dangerous extreme heat can affect anyone without access to effective cooling measures and/or adequate hydration, including healthy adults, but can have disproportionate effects on young children, elderly persons living alone, emergency and outdoor workers, and the medically uninsured.”
From the Washington Post: Heat wave to scorch Eastern U.S. with record high temperatures
From The Atlantic: Miami Is Entering a State of Unreality: No amount of adaptation to climate change can fix Miami’s water problems.“About a foot and a half of water had fallen across South Florida—not the product of a hurricane or a tropical storm but of a rainstorm, dubbed Invest 90L, a deluge that meteorologists are calling a once-in-200-years event. It was the fourth such massive rainfall to smite southeastern Florida in as many years.”
From Greenpeace: The Climate Crisis: Case of Flooding in Kenya and Extreme weather events.
The journal Nature reports: How climate change is hitting Europe: three graphics reveal health impacts: A growing body of research reveals the deaths and diseases linked to rising temperatures across the continent. The study, published in Lancet Public Health, had alarming findings. “Global warming is costing lives, deepening health inequality and driving the spread of disease-carrying ticks and parasites across Europe, according to a major report.”
Reasons for Hope
From Stanford University:What does hope for climate change look like? Stanford ecologist and climate scientist Chris Field looks to the 28th UN Climate Change Conference for a roadmap on what he considers solvable challenges.“We’ve got a powerful set of technologies lined up and ready to go. I think the politics are increasingly aligned with action, in many regions. The next step is increasing the push to bring policies, technologies, and communities together to accelerate the pace of action.”
From US EPA: Climate Pollution Reduction Grants
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution.
From Phys.org: Helping young people turn climate anxiety into climate action
From the Pulitzer Center:Journalists Share Solutions, Hope From ‘Climate Generation’ Reporting
