Voters in India, from the rain-drenched Himalayas in the north to the sweltering, dry south, are looking for politicians who promise relief, stability and resilience to the wide-ranging and damaging effects of a warming climate
WA is expected to hit a new record for greenhouse gas emissions this year, and has no chance of reaching net zero by 2050 unless it changes tack, a government-commissioned report reveals.
A lot of engineering was done assuming that rainfall behaved the way it did in the past. That's not a valid assumption anymore.
Transcript (and errors in it) are mine, as NPR is mainly a broadcast outlet.
Tamara 0:00 The salad chain restaurants Sweetgreen surprised a lot of people when they recently said they would begin serving beef and Los Angeles area vegans got an even bigger shock. The restaurant chain, formerly known as Sage Vegan says they will soon offer meat and dairy these restaurants highlight their sustainable goals. But beef and dairy are huge sources of planet warming pollution. Both restaurants say the beef would come from farms that practice what's known as regenerative farming. But what does this actually mean for the climate? To learn more, we are joined by Julia Simon from NPRs climate desk. Hey, thanks for having me. started at the beginning. What is regenerative farming? What how does it work?
Julia 0:42 So a step back soil has the potential to draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it but many conventional farming practices end up releasing carbon. regenerative agriculture is this umbrella term for a bunch of farming practices different from conventional farming that can in theory be better for the soil and the environment?
Tamara 1:05 So give us an example of how regenerative farming is different from conventional farming.
Julia 1:11 Yeah, so one example is cover crops, which basically means that there's always some kind of plant like grasses or legumes on your fields versus conventional farming, letting fields lie fallow. Emily Oldfield, as soil scientists at the Environmental Defense Fund says that can help lead to more healthy soil,
Emily Oldfield 1:32 you're preventing against soil loss and erosion, you're you're maximizing the presence of living roots. So you're sort of feeding all those microbes that are down in there.
Tamara 1:41 Okay, I get it for plants. But explain these restaurants say that their beef is coming from regenerative farms. How does it work with livestock?
Julia 1:49 There's something called regenerative grazing, where you're managing the way livestock like cattle graze on grasses to improve soil health, among other things. regenerative
Tamara 1:59 agriculture often gets discussed in the context of climate solutions, does it reduce emissions?
Julia 2:07 Yeah, there are ways it could, but some scientists worry about some climate benefits getting overstated. Give us example, their scientists say that keeping soils more intact can increase the amount of carbon stored in them, which is good, right carbon dioxide, it's a planet heating gas, great to have carbon in the soil versus the atmosphere. But there are lots of questions about how much carbon gets stored in the soil by changing these practices. And critically, how long the carbon stays in the soil. Here's Eric Slessor, of professor at Yale University,
Eric Slessor 2:40 organic matter and soil is a lot of material. There are microorganisms living on it, and they're constantly breaking it down and releasing it as co2 goes back to the atmosphere. And so soil is not a sealed off compartment. It's dynamic. Also,
Julia 2:56 Also things like drought, heat can affect the amount of carbon that soil stores. And while a farmer might be doing regenerative farming now, there's no guarantee that they'll be doing these practices into the future. Slessor of says this is a big question mark over climate claims around regenerative agriculture.
Eric Slessor 3:16 In my mind, that is the biggest uncertainty is how long is that carbon going to stay out of the atmosphere if it ends up in the soil in the form of organic matter?
Tamara 3:26 Is a regenerative farming does not sound like an exact science at this point. And the long term climate benefits may be in question. But in terms of beef, the climate impacts are pretty clear. Right?
Julia 3:40 Right. The main reason cattle hit the planet so much is that cattle burp and those burps have a lot of methane, this very potent greenhouse gas. Also in much of the world making room for cattle and food for cattle drives deforestation, which also heats the planet.
Tamara 3:58 I want to ask about these companies Sweetgreen and Sage Vegan which on its website now says it is rebranding as Sage Regenerative. What do they have to say about all of this?
Julia 4:07 Both Sweetgreen and Sage Regenerative did not respond to NPRs Requests for Comments. But again, we should say regenerative agriculture does have lots of environmental benefits. These practices are really good for soils that can reduce erosion water runoff, the questions come with the claimed climate benefits. Ultimately, experts I spoke to say when it comes to climate emissions from food, there might be an impulse to tweak around the edges, but meaningful emissions reductions will have to focus on the big sources of emissions like cattle. Research shows. just swapping out beef in a meal can have a big impact on a person's daily climate emissions.
Tamara 4:50 And our doctors might suggest the same. That's NPR's Julia Simon. Thanks, Julia.
Julia 4:54 Thank you, Tamra.
It not one or the other — there's a relationship between the lack of coverage, and people not being concerned.
The problem isn't "people think something else is important" — it's mostly that nobody hears about the big issue in the first place because the press is covering other issues.
Public officials from Congress to City Hall are now regularly subjected to threats of violence. It’s changing how they do their jobs.
> There is little research on the political views of those behind the onslaught of abuse. Some surveys show that Republican officeholders are more likely to report being targeted, often from members of their own party. Research does show, however, that recent acts of political violence are more likely to be carried out by perpetrators aligned with right-wing causes and beliefs.
The bot appears to have failed to parse most of the article.
There is a strange, substantive vacuum in this campaign cycle.
Una confluencia de factores como el cambio climático, la expansión urbanística y una infraestructura deficiente ha llevado a la capital mexicana al borde de una severa crisis de agua.
> Una confluencia de factores como el cambio climático, la expansión urbanística y una infraestructura deficiente ha llevado a Ciudad de México al borde de una severa crisis de agua.
A system of dams and canals may soon be unable to provide water to one of the world’s largest cities, a confluence of unchecked growth, crumbling infrastructure and a changing climate.
> A collision of climate change, urban sprawl and poor infrastructure has pushed Mexico City to the brink of a profound water crisis.
She's has a much longer life expectancy than Trump. Break what she's doing into the circles she moves in, and that can change
As some communities question the logic of continued investment in the gas system, a new RMI and National Grid paper looks at efforts to find alternatives.
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson on how to overcome the “soft” climate denial that keeps us buying junk.
Tell the world how much of a tool she is, and create an environment where she experiences social pressure.
CLIMATEWIRE | President Joe Biden is betting that $1.6 trillion in climate and infrastructure money can transform America, create green […]
She is utterly failing to keep the case moving along in a fair but timely manner.
With a name like that, I'd rather he be into killing mosquitoes than people.
After flood-inducing rain pummeled much of Texas, residents are enduring another inundation — of mosquitoes.
> But “as it gets warmer earlier, we see a larger amount of mosquitoes earlier,” said Max Vigilant, director of mosquito and vector control in Harris County, where Houston is located. “We are getting hotter temperatures earlier.” > >“This is the impact that climate change has had on Harris Country,” Vigilant added.
After flood-inducing rain pummeled much of Texas, residents are enduring another inundation — of mosquitoes.
>But “as it gets warmer earlier, we see a larger amount of mosquitoes earlier,” said Max Vigilant, director of mosquito and vector control in Harris County, where Houston is located. “We are getting hotter temperatures earlier.” > >“This is the impact that climate change has had on Harris Country,” Vigilant added.
As the U.S. floods the employment market with climate jobs, some are concerned about fossil fuel-dependent communities getting left in the dust.
How exactly do you propose doing that "take over" — oil companies literally sue shareholders who ask for improvement.
He spent most of this week in a courtroom on trial for falsifying business records to cover for his paying to prevent news coverage of a porn star he slept with, and may well end up in prison if convicted. So yes, it's possible.
Scientists say storms like those that battered Houston could become more intense as the planet warms, though pinning down trends is still challenging.
Ideally, we'd see an arrest, conviction, and some prison time.
NBIM, one of oil group’s largest investors, calls for ‘additional disclosures’ about green commitments ahead of AGM
Forecasts indicate that western India, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi, will experience a period of intense heat from May 18-20, 2024. Climate Central analysis indicates that human-caused climate change made these conditions much more likely.
Plus, Democrats can benefit from both presidential debates and Maryland’s Democratic Senate primary.
> What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign > >Donald Trump has pledged to scrap President Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and wind energy, as well as other initiatives opposed by the fossil fuel industry.
At temperate latitudes, you can actually get something like 95% of the way there using wind, solar, and reasonable amounts of storage in addition to existing hydropower.
This leaves a fairly small chunk which needs either long-duration storage or firm generation. Nuclear might be able to fill part of that, but only if it comes in at a lower price than currently seems likely. Other technologies, such as induced geothermal and sodium-ion flow batteries are a lot more likely-looking right now.
The US only has one non-lethal way to remove a federal judge: impeachment. And that requires a 2/3 vote in the Senate, which won't happen any time soon because the Republicans there favor his support of treason.
My gut is the timing doesn't matter much, but I'm not in the jury box.
To be clear: wild rice is in the same family as domestic rice, but a different genus.
Waiting on it to be posted to official sites, but word-of-mouth from people at the committee hearing is that SB 1497 has been passed out without amendment, and will be voted on by the full California State Senate. Time to look up your state legislators and give them a call.
China is already the high-quality supplier.
Not quite sure what you're referring to here.
Yes, you have a reasonably accurate description of the problem. It is possible to buy some years of additional use of some areas (eg: parts of Miami) using pumps to move water back out.
The limiting factor on the Inflation Reduction Act wasn't Biden — it was Manchin in the Senate, who was a literal fossil fuels magnate
So yes, there's a huge difference between them.