SCIENCE
A new set of detailed clues gleaned from ancient fossil reefs on the Seychelle Islands shows an increasing likelihood that human-caused warming will raise the global average sea level at least 3 feet by 2100, at the high end of the projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Due to regional variations, sea level would rise twice that much in some tropical areas, causing misery for millions of people living in low-lying coastal zones, including islands like the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, which would be completely swamped by 6 feet of sea level rise. Nearly every study published in the last 20 years suggests that large tracts of ice in Antarctica and Greenland will melt at the current level of warming, she added.
Record-high greenhouse gas emissions are set to exhaust the planet’s “carbon budget” within three years, passing another ominous milestone that would minimise the chance of limiting warming to 1.5C, scientists have said. The carbon budget represents the maximum amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted to still have a 50 per cent chance of keeping warming to the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal of 1.5C above the pre-industrial level. That target looked increasingly out of reach, said Joeri Rogelj, a climate science and policy professor at Imperial College London and co-author of a study by a team of more than 60 international scientists published in the journal Earth System Science Data. “Under any course of action, there is a very high chance we will reach and even exceed 1.5C and even higher levels of warming,” Rogelj said. “We are currently already in crunch time for higher levels of warming.” (Sources: ft.com, essd.copernicus.org)
Scientists in Japan have developed a new type of plastic that dissolves quickly in seawater, offering a potential breakthrough in the fight against ocean pollution. The material, created by researchers at the University of Tokyo, is being described as the fastest-degrading plastic of its kind. The researchers say it can vanish within hours in saltwater or soil without leaving behind harmful microplastics.
The Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision Friday that oil and ethanol producers have standing to challenge California regulations designed to phase out gas and diesel vehicles. That decision reverses a lower court ruling that found those industries were not directly hurt by the state’s policies, POLITICO’s Alex Guillén reports.
Turning recently closed coalmines into solar energy plants could add almost 300GW of renewable energy by 2030, according to a Global Energy Monitor report. If 312 surface coalmines, closed since 2020, were filled with solar panels and developed into energy plants, the report claims, it could generate enough energy to power Germany.
A former utility executive criticizes utilities’ “unsustainable” rate hikes and high profit margins, saying regulatory complexity is obscuring a vast wealth transfer from the public to corporate shareholders. (Inside Climate News)
The National Weather Service issued its first-ever heat advisories for Alaska after temperatures reach 89° Fahrenheit in some places. (Alaska Beacon)
In Canada, the cost of weather-related disasters has doubled in the last twenty years. In the US, billion-plus dollar weather climate disasters have soared from an average of 3 per year in the 1980s to an average of 23 per year the last five years. However, the U.S. billion-dollar disaster index will not be available for 2025, as the NOAA staff who maintained this dataset have been fired by the current U.S. administration and the dataset has been discontinued. [No data, no problem.]
On June 12, the Sierra Club released to investors a 32-page overview, “The Long Term Will Be Decided Now: Why Climate Risk Demands System-Level Action from Investors.” The core argument is that climate change isn’t just a risk to individual companies or sectors — it’s a systemic threat to the entire economy and to long-term investment portfolios. What’s needed is a “system-level investing” approach: strategically using the full range of investor leverage to reduce real-world emissions, not just shift carbon exposure on paper.
Oregon lawmakers passed the Climate Resilience Investment Act that would require the state’s public employee pension fund to be 100% carbon neutral by 2050. (KOIN, Oregonian)
The U.S. EPA’s proposed repeal of Biden-era emissions rules signals the Trump administration is unwilling to support carbon capture and storage projects at power plants. (E&E News)
This week, Senate Republicans joined their House colleagues in proposing to curtail a slew of clean energy incentives. Losing those could upend many a clean energy business, but the cuts would drive a dagger through the heart of the burgeoning green hydrogen sector in particular. [So ends the green hydrogen push, which was comprised of equal parts hype and hope].
New Jersey lawmakers advance legislation to expand the state’s community solar capacity by 50%, with the goal of helping residents rein in high utility bills. (Gothamist)
“We are already seeing China advertise for fired scientists to move and work there.” California Representative Zoe Lofgren, Ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
BloombergNEF reduced both its near- and long-term EV outlook for the first time, cutting 14 million battery-powered cars from its sales projections through 2030 due to the US rollback.
The world’s largest banks increased financing for fossil fuel projects between 2023 and 2024 despite their climate commitments, reversing several years of shrinking financial support for coal, gas, and oil projects. (The Guardian)
The Trump administration revokes a $500,000 federal grant for a nonprofit program aimed at helping Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation households upgrade wood stoves, install heat pumps, and weatherize residences. (Inside Climate News)
Climate-driven disaster spending: The US has spent nearly $1 trillion on disaster recovery and climate-related needs over the 12 months ending May 1, equivalent to 3% of GDP. The new report, “The Climate Economy: 2025 Outlook,” draws on data from dozens of public sources to demonstrate the volume of disaster-related spending, which represents $18.5 trillion globally since 2000. The biggest drivers of this trend in the US are insurance premiums — which have doubled since 2017 — post-disaster repair spending and federal aid. Risks are rising both from climate change, as it increases the severity and frequency of extreme weather, and from development that is insufficiently focused on resilience.
Tesla signed a deal to build China’s largest battery storage facility, amid tension between Beijing and Washington.
Take Action!
While the US is going to hell in a handcart and a troupe of clowns is bombing Iran, it is strange to say but climate action can give us hope. Climate change is so big it dwarfs the political fray, and there is still an enormous amount we can do to rein it in.
Join 350 Humboldt in our climate work. Hold Saturday July 5th at 11 a.m. when we will have our general meeting at the cupola in Larson Park in Arcata. More details coming.