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

April 15, 2021 

• Non-fungible tokens, a new blockchain technology, have been found to have a large environmental impact. 

• Many cyclists are unhappy about a new rule change that ends the tradition of tossing water bottles to fans during races. 

• The Muldrow Glacier in Alaska is moving up to 90 feet a day, 100 times faster than its normal pace. 

• A cyclone hit Indonesia, leaving over 160 people dead from flash floods and landslides. Many are claiming the Indonesian government’s recent rollback of environmental protections worsened the crisis. 

• Japan’s recent approval of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean has been met with fierce opposition. 

• Despite a slow economy resulting from COVID-19, greenhouse gases are currently on the rise. 

• The proposal for the construction of a controversial biomass power plant in Springfield, Massachusetts, was revoked by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. 

• CACTO claims to be the first “carbon negative fashion company in the Americas” because it removes more atmospheric carbon than it produces through the manufacturing of its cactus leather products.

Weekly Climate News

November 12, 2020 

• A community conservation initiative to revitalize mangrove forests, a resource for fish and medicines as well as a natural mosquito repellant, is financing women’s businesses in Kenya. 

• A new research study indicates that hurricanes may be retaining surge strength once they move inland from coastal areas as a direct result of climate change. 

• Hurricane Eta made landfall in Florida, drenching the state in torrential rain and strong winds.  

• Data from acoustic and oceanographic instruments recovered by the Norwegian Coast Guard from iced-over waters north of Alaska will provide essential information for scientists researching Arctic Ocean climate changes.

• A biotech startup in Singapore is making milk without animals or humans. 

• Renewable electricity installation is on track to hit global records in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency. 

• Austin, Texas plans to invest $7 billion on a new transit system which will include a 31-station rail system, rapid bus routes and bike lanes. $460 million will be allocated specifically to infrastructure for enhancing walking and biking throughout the city. 

• Rising sea levels may threaten two-thirds of NASA’s infrastructure, so they are taking steps to prepare. Read about it here.

• Air pollution may cause threats to honey bee populations.