Europe turns to Africa for natural gas amid fossil fuel shortages
Much of Europe is facing a natural gas shortage, and will continue to feel the economic and social effects of this shortage through the gas storage refilling period in summer 2023, according to an International Energy Agency article. The article explains that this shortage is due to a halt in pipeline deliveries from Russia. The New York Times reported that because of this loss, Europe must find new sources of natural gas and oil, and has already begun searching.
Weekly Climate News
April 22, 2021
Alaska’s boreal forests have experienced extreme damage from wildfires, but the regrowth of deciduous trees is helping to sequester more carbon than before.
Climate change has been altering the monsoon season in India, which poses threatening concerns for both Asian countries and the world.
Dust plumes from Africa, like the recent “Godzilla” pushed by winds in June 2020 from the Sahara across the Atlantic to North America, will shrink significantly due to climate change.
U.S. President Joe Biden will announce on Earth Day that the United States will cut carbon emissions in half by the end of the decade.
The “Climate Clock” in New York City’s Union Square now shows an estimate of how much of the world’s energy comes from renewable resources.
A recent study found that air pollution in India is costing Indian businesses $95 billion every year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted an invitation from Biden for a virtual climate summit.
Springtime snow and unseasonably harsh frosts in Western Europe are connected to losses of Arctic sea ice.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haalandrevoked a slew of orders issued under the Trump administration, shifting away from policies in favor of the oil and gas industries.
Weekly Climate News
Updates for September 10th
A record-setting heat wave swept through Southern California reaching a high of 121 F. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning on Sunday, Sept. 6 for areas in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
California is grappling with an unprecedented wildfire season made worse by the historic heatwave. Over the Labor Day weekend, about 200 hikers in the Sierra Nevada National Forest trapped by the spreading flames had to be airlifted out by helicopters.
The heatwave and wildfires in the West, a massive derecho in the Midwest and the record-breaking 2020 hurricane season illustrate an extreme climate future. Read about the connection between these weather events and climate change here.
The European Environment Agency confirmed on Tuesday, Sept. 8 that environmental factors such as air pollution and heatwaves worsened by climate change contribute to around 13 percent of all deaths in Europe.
Ministers from 11 African countries met virtually on Monday, Sept. 7 to discuss progress on implementing the Great Green Wall, an initiative to develop a 15-kilometer-wide and 8,000-kilometer-long vegetation strip across Africa said to be integral in coronavirus recovery.
Oil refineries in the Louisiana petrochemical industry have been impacted by recent hurricanes, dumping harmful substances into the environment and disproportionately impacting communities of color.
EPA relaxes standards that limit toxic waste and regulate wastewater from coal-fired power plants. Environmental groups claim this makes rivers and streams more vulnerable to contamination by corrosive pollutants like lead, selenium and arsenic.
Communities permanently affected by environmental damage or economic disinvestment are known as “sacrifice zones.” Read this article about how these areas are currently on the front lines of both climate change and the global pandemic.
Read about these organizations which are helping the youth of color enjoy the outdoors in the middle of the global pandemic.
In Ottawa, Canada, farming techniques that reduce greenhouse gas emissions are being developed.