SCIENCE
Rock samples collected from the Greenland ice sheet’s Prudhoe Dome in 2023 show it completely melted in the past 10,000 years — and could vanish again amid climate change. The
mountain of ice in northwest Greenland then was more than 50 miles wide and
1,600 feet tall, but is a small portion of Greenland ice. The temperature at its summit was well below 0 degrees
Fahrenheit. The rocks uncovered on the 2023 expedition contain chemical
signatures showing that Prudhoe Dome had completely melted within the
past 10,000 years — and it might soon suffer the same fate amid modern
climate change. The study suggests that large portions of Greenland were ice-free
in Earth’s recent past, when global temperatures weren’t much higher
than they are now. With this discovery, it is anticipated that even regions once thought stable are more vulnerable to climate shifts than previously believed. If the same temperatures occurred today, which is expected by 2100, they could raise
average sea levels anywhere from 7.5 inches to 2.4 feet. The study is expected to help modeling of the effects of global warming in the arctic.
MEDIA
Does it feel like climate in the news has changed? It sure has. (Only partly due to the fact that the Washington Post and LA Times have been bought by billionaires since the high point of coverage in 2022.)
Source: MeCCO / Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
GREENING
- The Global Carbon Project finds that emissions have declined over the past decade (2015-24) in 35 nations, which collectively account for 27% of global emissions, driven by faster installation of clean energy technologies and the retirement or curtailment of existing fossil fuel resources. This remains true even when emissions embodied in international trade are taken into account. What are the implications of this increase in demand for renewables for coal and gas? Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather lays it out in a blogpost called “Keep it in the ground.” [Really smart guy.]
- Evergy plans to build a $493 million transmission line that will start near Wichita, Kansas, at a major connection point for power generated from wind projects. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
- The board of California’s Westlands Water District that serves the San Joaquin Valley has adopted a plan that would add 21 gigawatts of solar power on land fallowed by water shortages. The infrastructure strategy document called for a “major land-repurposing initiative” across the nation’s largest agricultural water district, which spans 1,000 miles and provides freshwater to 700 farms near Fresno. Legislation passed in California’s big climate package last fall (Heatmap’s Emily Pontecorvo has a good writeup here) gave water districts the power to develop, construct, and own solar generation, batteries, and transmission facilities.
- Hydrostor’s just approved Willow Rock project would store 500 megawatts of power that could be injected into the grid for up to eight hours, totaling 4 gigawatt-hours. That’s more gigawatt-hours than any lithium-ion battery offers. Hydrostor compresses air in underground caverns and then releases it to turn conventional turbines and send power back to the grid. (Canary Media)
- One billion people in Africa still lack clean cooking solutions but IEA’s new roadmap shows a cost-effective path to eradicate major energy poverty, health and development issue. They have published an update showing that more than $470 million of the commitments from the Paris summit have already been disbursed – and set out a new roadmap laying out a cost-effective pathway to reaching universal access to clean cooking across sub-Saharan Africa by 2040.
- The report, Coal 2025, estimates that global demand rose slightly in 2025 to a new high, with consumption patterns in many major markets – including India, the United States and the European Union – diverging from their recent trends. By 2030, global coal demand is expected to have ticked lower, returning to the same level as in 2023. This is largely driven by shifts in the power sector, which accounts for two-thirds of total coal consumption today. With renewable capacity surging globally, nuclear power expanding steadily, and a huge wave of liquefied natural gas coming to market, coal-fired power generation is forecast to decline gradually from 2026 onwards.
CLIMATE DESPOLIATION
A study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, examined the efficiency of flights between 26,000 pairs of cities, based on the CO2 emitted per kilometre per passenger. Three actions – 1) All-economy-seat planes, 2) 95% flight occupancy and 3) using today’s most
efficient aircraft – could cut fuel use and therefore emissions by 50-75%. Flights from and within the US were the least efficient of any major country due to older aircraft and more first class seating.
Satellites have detected enormous amounts of methane billowing from Venezuela’s oil and gas infrastructure. Roughly 13 billion cubic meters of Venezuela’s natural gas is flared, vented or leaked into the atmosphere every year, wasting about $1.4 billion of potential revenue. [To say nothing of its impact on global warming.]
DARK AGE CLIMATE POLITICS
- The White House said in a memo released Wednesday that it would withdraw from more than 60 intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the international climate community’s governing organization for more than 30 years. This is the 1990s foundational treaty on climate change so the action means far more than just leaving the Paris Accord. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change are among a total of 66 groups the US will exit, spanning multiple sectors.
- The US is also pulling out of the Green Climate Fund, which was established in 2015 to support climate projects in developing countries. Since its creation, the fund has approved almost $20 billion for hundreds of projects.
- The Trump administration filed a lawsuit seeking to block gas hookup and appliance restrictions in two California cities, claiming the rules violate a 1975 federal law. (Reuters, KQED) Meanwhile Washington state’s Supreme Court is set this month to consider the legality of a voters’ referendum banning restrictions on natural gas appliances. (Capital Press)
Take Action on January 18th: Stop Trump’s bid for offshore drilling!
EPIC, Humboldt Waterkeeper, and Surfrider Foundation are organizing a Community Meeting on Offshore Oil Drilling on Sunday, January 18 at 10 am featuring Congressman Huffman, state and local electeds, and the public.
Comments are due January 23 by 8:59 pm PST and must be submitted through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management website or via U.S. mail.You can submit comments on the BOEM web portal by clicking on the blue COMMENTS button. Docket No. BOEM-2025-0483-0001. Or you can postcard if you attend the event.
You can also SIGN A PETITION from Climate Action California.
Save mileage standards:
The public comment period on Trump’s proposed rollbacks to CAFE mileage (emission) standards is open, but only until Tuesday, January 20. Model year 2031 standards will be weaker than those already achieved by model year 2024 vehicles, meaning the rule is weaker than doing nothing at all. Drivers will be forced to spend over $600 more in fuel over the lifetime of an FY2031 vehicle than they save in upfront costs, to say nothing of the climate impacts.