May 17 - Sharon Kimathi Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital
Hello, The intense northern hemisphere summer heat that drove wildfires across the Mediterranean, buckled roads in Texas and strained power grids in China last year made it not just the warmest summer since official records began – but the warmest in some 2,000 years, new research suggests. But before we dive in, please note that Sustainable Switch will be on a short break next week, and back in your inbox on May 28. Now, back to the new work published in the journal Nature which suggests 2023 eclipsed temperatures over a far longer timeline than official records show – a finding established by looking at meteorological records dating to the mid-1800s and temperature data based on the analysis of tree rings across nine northern sites. "When you look at the long sweep of history, you can see just how dramatic recent global warming is," said study co-author Jan Esper, a climate scientist at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany. Last year's summer season temperatures on lands between 30 and 90 degrees north latitude reached 2.07 degrees Celsius (3.73 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial averages, the study said. Based on tree ring data, the summer months in 2023 were on average 2.2 C (4 F) warmer than the estimated average temperature across the years 1 to 1890. This comes as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that some 60.5% of the world's reef area has been subjected to heat stress bad enough to trigger bleaching over the past year. "I am very worried about the state of the world's coral reefs," NOAA's Coral Reef Watch coordinator Derek Manzello said in a monthly briefing. "We are seeing (ocean temperatures) play out right now that are very extreme in nature".
Click here for the full Reuters story on coral bleaching. Climate Buzz * Indonesia's toll rises to 62 from deadly Sumatra floods, 25 still missing The death toll from flash floods and mudslides in Indonesia's West Sumatra province rose to 62, authorities said, while rescuers were searching areas near rivers for 25 people who are still missing.
Officials said some of those earlier unaccounted for were found dead during the day, which lifted the toll from 58 reported in the morning. * US must act to slash landfill methane emissions, report says Methane emissions at nearly two dozen U.S. landfills regularly exceeded federal limits and in some cases were higher than facility owners reported to the government, according to a study by environmental nonprofit Industrious Labs. * Indigenous group to take fight against Arizona copper mine to Supreme Court A Native American group said it will take its fight against Rio Tinto’s proposed Arizona copper mine to the U.S. Supreme Court, after a federal appeals court refused to reconsider whether the U.S. government may have improperly transferred land to the developer.
Tesla has been sued by an environmental nonprofit that accused Elon Musk's electric car company of violating the federal Clean Air Act hundreds of times by letting its Fremont, California, plant emit harmful pollutants.
What to Watch​ With South Africa's election fast approaching, some say they are the victims of efforts by the ruling African National Congress to balance the need to keep the lights on in a coal-driven economy with its global commitments to decarbonize. Click here or on the image for more. Climate Commentary​
Click here for the full explainer by Kate Abnett, Reuters European climate and energy correspondent. Number of the Week $1 trillion
A victory by Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election would jeopardize a projected $1 trillion in low-carbon energy investments and carbon emissions would be 1 billion tonnes more by 2050 than under current policies, according to a new report by data analytics firm Wood Mackenzie.
Sustainable Switch Climate Focus was edited by Mark Potter
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