SCIENCE
- A
new study indicates that minuscule pieces of plastic — particularly
ones of various colors — are contributing to heating the atmosphere. Microplastics lurk in nearly every corner of the globe. Scientists have found the tiny particles in rivers and lakes,
in agricultural soil and in the oceans. They have infiltrated our food
and water, cleaning products and cosmetics, even our own bodies. A new study
published Monday that finds these minuscule pieces of plastic —
particularly ones of various colors — are contributing to heating the
atmosphere. Drew
Shindell, a Duke University earth science professor and co-author of
the study in Nature Climate Change, said many questions remain about the
precise impacts, but the new findings show that on the whole, microplastics in the atmosphere are likely absorbing more heat than they are reflecting. “We
can say with confidence that overall they are warming agents,” Shindell
said in an interview. “To me, that’s the big advance.” - If deforestation and global warming continue unchecked, the Amazon rainforest could begin a gradual transition to a degraded, grassland-like ecosystem in just a few decades. A new study examines a known consequence of deforestation in the Amazon: it can create a
feedback loop that reduces rainfall and causes even more trees to die.
That’s because trees in the rainforest act as a kind of weather machine
by sucking up water from the ground with their roots and releasing
moisture into the air through their leaves. When
trees are lost on a large scale, the regional climate becomes drier and
other effects of climate change, like drought and wildfire, become more
dangerous. The study’s model showed widespread transitions (from sink to emissions source) across the Amazon basin at deforestation
levels of 22−28% combined with global warming levels of 1.5–1.9 °C. [Very close to where we are right now.]
GREENING
- California’s grid operator and PacifiCorp launch their regional Extended Day-Ahead Market, giving them and other member utilities greater access to energy resources across the West to meet forecast demand. (Inside Climate News, Oregonian, Public Power) [This allows CA to use wind and solar from states in different time zones.]
- As electric car sales soften in China after years of breakneck growth, electric trucks are taking off, with the emerging industry expected to get a boost from the Iran war. Electric trucks, like the battery-powered model offered by GAC Lingcheng New Energy Commercial Vehicle Co., now make up 20% of the overall segment after sales tripled in 2025.
- Trees are countering about half of the heat from pavement and buildings in urban environments, according a new study highlighted by The Associated Press. “About 185 million people living in 31 of the larger cities already feel an average cooling from tree cover of at least half a degree Fahrenheit,” the A.P. writes. But they’re not doing enough cooling in hotter, poorer cities where it’s needed the most as the world warms.
- Houston-based SEG Solar announces plans to build a 4-GW solar module factory in Texas. (PV Magazine, news release)
- A New York City pilot program that gives residents batteries to power air conditioning units at times of high demand is expanding to another 1,000 homes this summer. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE DESPOLIATION
- A Utah researcher estimates a proposed 9-GW natural gas plant to power a hyperscale data center complex planned for Box Elder County would increase the state’s carbon emissions by more than 50%. (Utah News Dispatch)
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has ruled that The Metals Company’s deep-seabed mining application is fully compliant with U.S. regulations. On Friday, the Canadian company, which is aiming to harvest mineral-rich nodules from a 1.7-million-acre swath of the Pacific called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, called the approval “a key milestone” toward commercialization that puts the firm on track to start producing metals by the first three months of next year.
- The process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately, as the city has reached a “point of no
return” that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to
the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded.
Ongoing sea-level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana
will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations, with the
new paper estimating the city “may well be surrounded by the Gulf of
Mexico before the end of this century.” Southern
Louisiana is facing 3-7 metres of sea-level rise and the loss of
three-quarters of its remaining coastal wetlands, which will cause the
shoreline “to migrate as much as 100km (62 miles) inland”, thereby
stranding New Orleans and Baton Rouge. This scenario
makes the region the “most physically vulnerable coastal zone in the
world”, the researchers state, and requires immediate action to prepare a
smooth transition for people away from New Orleans, which has a population of about 360,000 people, to safer ground. - In their latest sustainability reports, Meta, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon and Microsoft said their carbon emissions went up 64%, 51%, 33% and 23%, respectively, compared with benchmarks predating the first release of ChatGPT in late 2022. Microsoft singled out “growth-related factors such as AI and cloud expansion” as reasons behind the surge in emissions.Microsoft Corp. may shelve one of the industry’s most ambitious clean-energy targets as it tries to remove hurdles that could hold it back in the race to power data centers, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company is weighing whether to delay — or even abandon altogether — its 2030 target of matching 100% of its hourly electricity use with renewable energy purchases.
DARK AGE CLIMATE POLITICS
- The Department of Defense is stalling approvalsfor about 165 onshore wind projects on private lands, according to the American Clean Power Association, including those awaiting final sign-off, others in the middle of negotiations, and some that would not typically require oversight by the agency.
Take Action!
An EPIC sponsored bill is nearing a critical vote. You can help restore and conserve state forests that have been subject to intensive logging.
On May 14, EPIC-sponsored legislation AB 2494 that will end the commercial logging mandate in all state forests, including the Jackson Demonstration State Forest, will be heard in its second committee hearing in the California State Legislature. If our supporters would like to watch the hearing, they can do so at the link HERE.
If you haven’t already, consider signing our petition, expressing support for our bill to the California State Legislature.