Joe Manchin, a Democrat, that the Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for a new pipeline running through West Virginia. It was seen as a political win for him and West Virginia Sen. In the US, while President Joe Biden has made pledges to make the US carbon neutral in the coming decades, he is not completely opposed to new oil projects. The reason gas prices have spiked in recent days? On top of OPEC holding back supply, excessive heat is affecting productivity at oil refineries. There’s a climate change angle for everywhere and everything Melting ice could dilute ocean water and alter the currents, which would affect everyone on the planet. More theoretical is the possibility that the series of currents that circulates water around the oceans simply collapses.Ī study published in the journal Nature this week suggested the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current, which includes the Gulf Stream, could collapse as early as 2025. Ramirez notes that cities are looking for new ways to adapt, like painting roads white in Los Angeles, painting roofs in New York and more.Ĭoral reefs off the Florida Keys, unable to stand the 100-plus-degree temperatures charted in some areas, are suffering a mass bleaching event, according to CNN’s Eric Zerkel, who writes experts were stunned at the two-week escalation that could kill some reefs off. “Areas blanketed with asphalt, buildings, industry and freeways tend to absorb the sun’s energy then radiate more heat, while areas with abundant green space – parks, rivers, and tree-lined streets – radiate less heat and provide shade.” “These giant swings in temperature over short distances in cities, known as the urban heat island effect, make heat waves even worse,” writes CNN’s Rachel Ramirez of a new report by the nonprofit research group Climate Central. There can be variation up to 8 degrees between portions of a city with trees and green space and those that are mostly pavement. The urban density that creates economic opportunity also makes cities hotter than their surrounding areas. Maricopa County has 25 heat-related deaths so far, but another 249 are under investigation. The Phoenix area medical examiner has brought in extra refrigerated containers for bodies, like it did during spikes of Covid-19, to deal with potential overflow. Doctors are treating people burned just by falling on the ground, according to one CNN report. Take a look at Arizona, where Phoenix has endured nearly a full straight month of 110-plus-degree days.Ĭacti can’t stand the heat and are dying. When the new extremes come, they feel remarkable But countries are not yet on that path or anywhere close to it. Romanello said the basic move would be to commit to phase out fossil fuels. “What we know is the heat will become much more intense, much more frequent, and that if we don’t act urgently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then the outlook will be very serious with, as you said, temperatures that are beyond the limits of physiological survival.”Īre we acting urgently? Asher pointed out California is phasing out gas-powered car sales. Asked by CNN’s Zain Asher about a heat index in Iran that approached 150 degrees Fahrenheit, Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, said to prepare for more. The West Coast of the US, for instance, has gotten a respite so far from wildfires thanks to epic rainfall earlier in the year.īut we can expect more heat more often. Torrential rain flooded Boston’s Fenway park. Towns unused to flooding were under water this year in Vermont. Tourists in Greece were forced to flee in the country’s largest-ever evacuation. The warnings that more fires, floods and storms would occur as the atmosphere heated up are here.Ī large portion of the country has seen smoke come and go from those Canadian wildfires. Nearly half the US is under a heat advisory this week, and the country’s largest power grid was on alert. It may be the hottest month in 120,000 years, according to scientists in Europe.įrom a daily life standpoint, things are different This is not just the hottest month in human history. In this year of epic heat, it’s time to start thinking about how the climate changed rather than the fact of its changing.įrom a historical standpoint, we are in uncharted territory. Here’s a hot take on the summer of 2023: The climate you grew up in is gone, replaced by something new and changing, but also inalterably different – where the Atlantic Ocean can reach hot-tub temperature, heat is a recurring public health concern and people will have to adapt their way of living.
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