Climate Disconnect

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Highlighting the gap between what we know about climate change, and what we're actually doing about it.

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Incredible framing of this story. The UN report shows the human population GROWING ANOTHER 2 BILLION by 2080 before finally beginning to decline by just 100 million in 2100. But it's all about population "shrinking" ... even as we end up with 10.2 billion people in 2100.

Global population to shrink this century as birth rates fallFinancial Timeswww.ft.com UN report shows earlier — and lower — peak for number of people in the world to reach its maximum level

Eco-optimists will not like this book, but it reports on the sad reality that is the human predicament.

‘What if there just is no solution?’ How we are all in denial about the climate crisiswww.theguardian.com In his new book, Tad DeLay suggests there is no rosy roadmap to go forward – but there are things we can do

There are 8 billion humans and another 80 million more each year. With 1.5 billion added in the coming decades. But somehow that's just not enough, and we need to keep the human population Ponzi scheme going. So, alarm bells. www.wsj.com/world/birthr...

Climate change finally hitting home for the super high emitters. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Beverly Hills 90210 Mansions Lose Fire Coverage as Insurers Fleewww.bloomberg.com State Farm is discontinuing fire insurance policies in wealthy California areas. It’s part of a nationwide trend fueled by climate change.

They are going to produce every last drop of oil they can find. And no one is going to stop them. This shouldn't be possible.

Oil Companies Expand Offshore Drilling, Pointing to Energy Needswww.nytimes.com Shell and others say they plan to drill for oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico in part because doing so releases fewer greenhouse gases than drilling on land.

This can't happen fast enough. www.scientificamerican.com/article/chin...

China’s Population Could Shrink to Half by 2100www.scientificamerican.com Is China’s future population drop a crisis or an opportunity?

Climate change keeps hitting home, literally and figuratively, but is anyone listening? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

UK’s Second Biggest Mortgage Lender Pulls Offers Over Flood Riskwww.bloomberg.com The UK’s second biggest mortgage provider has stopped making loans on homes at risk of flooding, over fears they may become uninsurable — and therefore, unsellable — over the coming years.

Uh oh.

Climate change blamed for worst wine harvest in 62 yearswww.euronews.com A new report shows where has wine production dried up the most in Europe.

How is the "energy transition" going? "A surge in new coal plants coming online in China drove this increase — 47.4 GW, or roughly two- thirds of global additions — coupled with new capacity in Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Korea, Greece, and Zimbabwe.

Here's how the "energy transition" is actually going. "For all the efforts to transition to greener sources of energy, oil demand is forecast by the IEA to grow by about 1.3 million barrels a day this year to a new record."

Exxon and Chevron Output Booms in World’s Hottest Oil Patcheswww.bloomberg.com If you want to understand why the two largest US oil companies are together spending in excess of $100 billion on acquisitions right now, look no further than the amount of crude they’re extracting fr...

Humankind's insatiable demand for energy means ... more fossil fuels. Renewables aren't really "energy transition" but "energy addition", and they aren't enough. WSJ: "Air Conditioning and AI Are Demanding More of the World’s Power—Renewables Can’t Keep Up" www.wsj.com/business/ene...

www.wsj.com

This is really bad news and isn't getting the attention it should.

Northern permafrost region emits more greenhouse gases than it captures, study findsphys.org Permafrost underlies about 14 million square kilometers of land in and around the Arctic. The top 3 meters contain an estimated 1 trillion metric tons of carbon and 55 billion metric tons of nitrogen....

Yet another side-effect of humanity's endless quest for "more" ... of everything. "And antiquated coal-powered electricity plants that had been scheduled to go offline will need to keep running to fuel the increasing need for more power, undermining clean energy goals."

Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coalwww.washingtonpost.com Virginia data centers that process nearly 70 percent of global digital traffic need more electricity. Coal-fired power plants in neighboring states are going to provide it.

Despite all the pledges and commitments promised at every COP summit, global coal-fired power generation has continued to increase. It does not matter that it's being reduced in the UK and USA ... the only thing that matters is that coal power is still increasing worldwide.

Last year China brought 47 gigawatts of coal power plants online, and ALSO started construction on another 70 gigawatts of new coal plants. Meanwhile, I don't know, let's eat less meat or something.

China Leads Global Coal Power Surge as Capacity Hits Recordwww.bloomberg.com Global coal-power capacity rose to a record last year, led by a surge in new plants in China and a slowdown in retirements around the world, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor.

It was once thought -- by scientists like James Lovelock, for example -- that the United Kingdom would be something of a relative 'climate refuge' compared to other parts of the globe, but the climate shocks keep coming. Now food production in the UK is suffering.

Farmers warn ‘crisis is building’ as record rainfall drastically reduces UK food productionwww.theguardian.com Reduction in yields means UK will be dependent on imports for wheat in coming year and possibly beyond

So now dramatic losses of worms, too. Where does this end?

‘Vital for looking after the soil’: fears as UK earthworm population declineswww.theguardian.com Keystone species has potentially enormous effects on above-ground wildlife and ecosystem functioning

Our progress indicators.

My climate change dashboard is updated for this past month... Higher resolution graphic available at zacklabe.com/climate-chan...

Don't worry, folks, nothing to see here, move along....

Revisiting mean temperature departures over the last 3 months around the world... 🟥 warmer than average 🟦 colder than average Data information/questions addressed at data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/faq/

This can't happen fast enough. There are already 8 billion humans, we're adding 80 million more every year, and we're consuming all the earth's resources. But notice the framing here: the study "warns" because this is considered a negative, not a positive, development.

Global fertility rate to keep plummeting, study warnswww.rte.ie The population of almost every country will be shrinking by the end of the century, a major study has said, warning that baby booms in developing nations and busts in rich ones will drive massive soci...

For climate optimists always focused on renewable energy growth, here's the real world. And it's why emissions keep rising. "... an uncomfortable reality for climate advocates and policymakers globally: Demand for oil just keeps on rising, delaying the end of the fossil fuel era."

Phasing out fossil fuels a ‘fantasy,’ oil executives say amid giant profitswww.washingtonpost.com Despite a historic global climate deal, demand for oil is booming, executives emphasized at an energy conference in Houston.

We will see more of this everywhere. Calls to use taxpayer money to rebuild flood-damaged homes built in floodplains, many without flood insurance. Local officials in Vermont want $150,000 to $200,000 per home to rebuild and elevate 20 houses *in the exact same location.*

Final Reading: Barre and Montpelier leaders ask Vermont lawmakers for funds for flood-damaged homes - VTDiggervtdigger.org City advocates are asking for $1.5 million and $2 million respectively in next year’s budget to rebuild and raise up 20 residences.

So much wrong with the study behind this story. Based on emissions only, not overall impact (i.e., biodiversity loss, pollution, etc.); and *assumes* nations meet their net zero goals (delusional). Yet -- despite the headline -- study still finds having one fewer child reduces emissions the most.

Why Having a Baby Isn’t Really Bad for the Planetwww.bloomberg.com The population can expand without having a major impact on emissions if countries have credible net-zero plans, according to one climate researcher.

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There is one thing you can count on with methane emissions. Every time we learn the situation is much worse than we were told. Just one more example. #methaneemergency

Indonesia’s methane emissions from coal are 8 times worse than reportedwww.scmp.com The world’s third-largest coal miner, after China and India, undercounts methane emissions from production of the fuel, jeopardising the nation’s international climate commitments.

Here's a guy with multiple mansions, a fleet of private jets, and a company dedicated to endless growth with an ever-expanding carbon footprint ... deciding other people eating meat is the problem. How about just shrinking Amazon's emissions, Jeff?

Bezos Seeks to Revamp Meat Alternatives in Climate Pushwww.bloomberg.com The Bezos Earth Fund is pouring $60 million into revamping alternative proteins as part of its push to make food more sustainable.

This is a problem. "The government now expects coal demand to increase by about 50% between now and 2030, when it’s set to hit 1.5 billion metric tons."

Modi’s Fading Renewables Vision Fires Up India’s Coal Sectorwww.bloomberg.com It’s a lesson in the power of state intervention to skew markets away from cheap, clean power toward costly, fossil-fired incumbents.

As a species, humanity's insatiable appetite for energy literally has no limits. To address climate change, we're supposed to "electrify" everything, and also plug millions of EVs into the grid, but we already don't have enough electric power.

Amid explosive demand, America is running out of powerwww.washingtonpost.com Artificial intelligence, data centers and the boom in clean-tech manufacturing are pushing America’s aging power grid to the brink. Utilities can’t keep up.

Notice the (desperately) positive spin the International Energy Agency is putting on the news that global carbon emissions rose yet again to record levels in 2023. Here's Reuters more honest take: "Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit record high in 2023 - IEA"

Major growth of clean energy limited the rise in global emissions in 2023 - News - IEAwww.iea.org Major growth of clean energy limited the rise in global emissions in 2023 - News from the International Energy Agency

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Global ocean heat content is at record high levels - new update just in from the Japan Meteorological Agency dataset... #ClimateChange Graphic at zacklabe.com/climate-chan...