Most recent 40 articles: Bloomberg Climate Adaptation
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Hyundai Has a Climate Dilemma at One of World’s Top Car Plants - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 31, 2022) |
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May 31, 2022 · Those proposals came after the company said in April that four key units, including Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp., would aim to move to 100% renewables as soon as 2040 and join the RE100 initiative, under which companies commit to end their use of fossil fuels. Climate-focused campaign groups including Greenpeace and Action Speaks Louder argue the LNG plant won’t align with the Hyundai’s announcements on climate action, and say there’s a risk the power station would become a stranded asset because of the volatility in gas prices and the declining cost of renewable energy. “Hyundai is fully committed to its carbon neutrality goal and ... Read more ... |
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Drought Ravaging East Africa Bankrupts Farmers, Empties Schools - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 26, 2022) |
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May 26, 2022 · The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that global warming, caused by greenhouse gas emissions, is leading to more extreme weather events and African nations are among those that will face heightened food and water insecurity. At least 16 million people are already at risk across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, according to the United Nations, and the threat of famine is clearly evident. While Kenya typically gets most of its rainfall between March and June and some showers between October and December, weather patterns have begun to change. Many areas haven’t had sufficient water since late 2020, and there is no indication when the drought will ... Read more ... |
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Top Soy Processor Bunge Expands Deforestation Tracking in Brazil - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 24, 2022) |
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May 24, 2022 · Companies are cutting back on purchasing grains from deforested areas like the Cerrado and Amazon to reduce their carbon footprint. The Cerrado is known as one of the high-risk areas of deforestation in Brazil and responsible for over half of the country’s output of soybeans and corn. “We are seeing more and more demand for a clean carbon footprint, not only offsetting,” said Rob Coviello, Bunge’s chief sustainability officer. Bunge is tracking indirect purchases by giving resellers access to digital monitoring tools, including satellite imagery that can identify deforestation from farms they buy from. Company can ... Read more ... |
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Water Outages Loom Over Major South African Hub - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 22, 2022) |
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May 22, 2022 · The water shortages have evoked memories of Cape Town’s plight four years ago, when a drought forced the city’s more than 4 million residents to halve their daily consumption. It’s also a sign of things to come -- the government estimates demand for water will outstrip supply nationally within the next two years, and the country will face a deficit of almost 20% by the end of the decade. “Nelson Mandela Bay currently faces an unprecedented crisis in the delivery of basic water supply,” a committee set up by local residents said in a statement. The Kouga Dam that supplies the area will likely be depleted by month-end, “which will ... Read more ... |
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Global Warming Threatens Africa’s Southern Yellow-Billed Hornbill - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 19, 2022) |
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May 19, 2022 · Southern yellow-billed hornbills struggle to breed above certain temperatures as they face greater difficulty in foraging and lose weight. A comparison of two three-year periods, between 2008 and 2011 and 2016 and 2019, showed that the number of occupied nest boxes at a site in the Kuruman River Reserve in South Africa fell to 12% from 52%, the researchers said. The average number of chicks per breeding attempt declined to 0.4 from 1.1. Meanwhile temperature data for the region going back to 1960 for the region showed no significant changes until the summer that straddled 1996 and 1997, said Nicholas Pattinson, an author of the study and a researcher at UCT. The average mean ... Read more ... |
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Dutch Homes Will Have to Install Hybrid Heat Pumps From 2026 - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 18, 2022) |
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May 18, 2022 · Heat pumps can help cut heating bills by a quarter compared with conventional gas boilers, according to European consumer organizations, and have been championed by experts as a cost-effective way to cut demand for fossil fuels used to keep homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The UK plans to ban gas boilers in new homes after 2025, but the European Union has so far declined to implement a similar restriction, saying instead that countries should try to gradually phase out dirty heating systems. The International Energy Agency says no new gas boilers should be sold from 2025 if the world is to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century. The ... Read more ... |
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Climate Change Threatens China With Yet Another Deadly Flood Season - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 17, 2022) |
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May 17, 2022 · Floods are a regular occurrence in China during the summer, especially in the low-lying areas along the Yangtze River and its tributaries. But the storms have intensified as global warming brings more extreme weather. Scientists have found evidence that the atmosphere can hold 7% more moisture for every degree Celsius of Earth’s warming. The flooding this year is set to be “relatively worse” and “more extreme” compared with the historical average, according to China’s National Climate Center. Cities must stay alert and recognize the increasing danger from climate-change fueled extreme weather events, the Ministry of Housing and ... Read more ... |
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EU Green Tech Needs Cash on Fossil-Fuel Scale, Gates Group Says - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 16, 2022) |
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May 16, 2022 · The EU needs to spend the equivalent of what it would on oil and gas to add more grid infrastructure for renewables, long-duration storage, clean hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel, according to a report commissioned by Gates’ Breakthrough Energy from Boston Consulting Group. Those “enabling technologies” would allow it to cut energy dependency by around 1.4 million gigawatts -- about a 10th of its projected primary consumption in 2030. “If we don't spend this, we're just not going to reach the targets that we want and we're just going to increase the risks and our dependency,” said Anders Porsborg-Smith, ... Read more ... |
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Zero-Carbon Flat Glass Made for the First Time by Saint-Gobain - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 16, 2022) |
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May 16, 2022 · Saint-Gobain “succeeded in adjusting all of the furnace’s technical parameters to this dual challenge of operating with 100% recycled material and 100% biogas, while ensuring the right optical quality of the glass,” the manufacturer said in a statement. The company already announced plans last year to build the world’s first carbon-neutral plasterboard plant in Norway. French manufacturer used 100% recycled material, green energy To contact the author of this story:Francois De Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story:Amanda Jordan at ... Read more ... |
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How Mansions Can Intensify Wildfires - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 13, 2022) |
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May 13, 2022 · When a fire broke out near a wastewater treatment plant on Wednesday, it raced up a chaparral-covered hillside until it encountered an explosive source of fuel – Coronado Pointe. “Homes made out of wood are like dead trees,” said Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy policy program at Stanford University who studies wildfire risk. “And there's a lot more dead trees in a 10,000-square-foot house than a 2,000-square-foot house.” The conflagration started on a cool day with high humidity — conditions not usually conducive to wildfire. But gusty ocean winds propelled what started as a small fire up the hillside below ... Read more ... |
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Hydrogen Is Every U.S. Gas Utility’s Favorite Future Savior - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (May 02, 2022) |
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May 02, 2022 · There’s no question why gas utilities whose entire business model appears to be under existential threat would be leaning into hydrogen as a potential savior: As a whole, they’ve been trading at a discount to electric utilities because investors are worried that anti-gas bans like those in California and New York City will erode their core business. With gas utilities now talking about decarbonizing their systems by blending in hydrogen or biogas — or even supplying pure hydrogen to industrial users in some cases — investors can more easily envision a future for gas-powered utilities. Read more ... |
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India Endures Record Heat Wave: 'The Only Reason Is Global Warming’ - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 29, 2022) |
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Apr 29, 2022 · “Why is it exceptionally warm this year? The only reason is global warming,” said Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. “We have looked at data for seventy years and at the intensity, the number of heatwaves is directly in response to global warming.” Today 28 April is day #3 of the Indian/Pakistan/Central Asia heat wave. Highest temperature was 47.5C at Dadu,Pakistan. In India 45.8C at Daltonganj. In Central Asia over 38C at Termez in Uzbekistan. Next 3 days will be the hottest,with temperatures at record levels.Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/0lvfGkw75b India is expected to suffer ... Read more ... |
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Bangkok’s E-Ferry Fleet Grows With Money From Development Banks - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 27, 2022) |
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Apr 27, 2022 · Electrifying the city’s water fleet has become a priority in recent years, as Thailand looks to both grow its electric vehicle industry and make progress toward its emissions-reduction goals. Energy Absolute Pcl, Thailand’s biggest electric-vehicle venture, debuted electric ferry services last year, and on Wednesday, the company announced a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank to partially fund 27 more vehicles. That project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 18,900 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, ADB said. Bangkok’s air quality is often poor, a result of industrial emissions, construction, crop burning ... Read more ... |
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QuantumScape Bets on Iron to Ease Battery Supply Chain Squeeze - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 27, 2022) |
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Apr 27, 2022 · QuantumScape Corp., the solid-state battery startup backed by Volkswagen AG and Bill Gates, said its ability to use iron-based chemistries instead of nickel for battery components could help it mitigate soaring costs for raw materials as it tries to scale its technology.Prices for key battery metals like nickel and lithium have surged in the past year, threatening to reverse a long-term trend that has helped boost electric-vehicle adoption around the world. Higher raw material costs could push the average price of a lithium-ion battery pack to $135 per kilowatt-hour this year, the first increase in prices in over a decade, according ... Read more ... |
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This Device Powers Everything From Grids to Cooking Stoves - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 27, 2022) |
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Apr 27, 2022 · In October, Enapter won the 1 million pound ($1.3 million) Earthshot Prize, founded by the U.K.’s Prince William, that supports technologies helping to fight global warming. The company started in Thailand in 2015, when German software engineer Sebastian-Justus Schmidt built a self-sustaining home using solar power and electrolyzers. Bloomberg Green caught up with co-founder Vaitea Cowan in London. Bloomberg Green: So let’s talk about scaling up. You're building a factory for mass production to be completed this year. Is that right?Cowan: Yeah, Q4. That's the ambition. By then, we want to have the machines moved in. It’s in North ... Read more ... |
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81% of Flood Insurance Policyholders Will See Rate Increases, Report Says - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 26, 2022) |
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Apr 26, 2022 · For years, FEMA tried to reform the program to make premiums more reflective of actual costs, but it was unpopular with Congress and constituents. Last year, FEMA rolled out a reform known as Risk Rating 2.0, based on cutting-edge science and modeling techniques. The new program aims to be more equitable by setting rates based on the risk of individual homes, as opposed to the risk of all the homes in one risk zone as the old method did. The idea is the new system would charge higher premiums for the riskiest homes, while many of the other homes in the program would actually see lower premiums. FEMA also said that rates would be no more that ... Read more ... |
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Weather Prediction Startups Grow as More Volatile Storms Loom - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 25, 2022) |
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Apr 25, 2022 · For Caleb Stratton, who as Hoboken’s chief resilience officer is responsible for preparing the city’s infrastructure for such calamities, this was the last straw. Helped by federal grants, Stratton has spent more than a decade implementing various flood mitigation measures across Hoboken. But the increasing number, volatility and unpredictability of storms has left the city gravely exposed, he said. A more proactive approach would be needed. “Hoboken is an older city,” Stratton said of the 173-year-old birthplace of Frank Sinatra and site of the first organized baseball game. “And these cities weren’t ... Read more ... |
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Indonesia Solar Is Finally Tapped, But for Its Rich Neighbor Singapore - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 20, 2022) |
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Apr 20, 2022 · In recent months, at least five giant projects have been proposed that would eclipse the country’s total capacity in one go. But instead of focusing on the Indonesia market, they are planning to export clean power to Indonesia’s rich but land-scarce neighbor Singapore. While the projects will all provide jobs, investments and likely at least some power for Indonesia, they highlight how clean energy flows have been dictated by money, policy support and grid availability more than natural resources and energy needs. Indonesia’s plans to increase clean energy for its own consumption have been stalled in part because a 2015 push to build new power plants ... Read more ... |
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Dairy Giant Arla Wants to Pay Farmers More for Low-Emission Milk - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 19, 2022) |
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Apr 19, 2022 · The incentives, which are still being hashed out, are meant to help the Denmark-based co-operative achieve its target of reducing farm-level emissions by 63% this decade. The agriculture industry is being pushed to become greener, and Arla has committed to using fossil-free trucks, renewable sources of electricity and low-energy operations at its sites. “The more activities you do that reduce the climate impact, the better the milk price you get from us,” Tuborgh said. “We know it will make a huge difference to the farmers if they are financially motivated to do the right thing.” The Nordic region’s biggest dairy company also is ... Read more ... |
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Walmart Will Run Forklifts on 'Green’ Hydrogen in Plug Power Deal - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 19, 2022) |
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Apr 19, 2022 · Stripped from water using renewable power, green hydrogen can be produced and used as a fuel without pumping carbon dioxide into the sky, and companies and governments worldwide see it as a key way to fight climate change. Plug has been trying to transform itself into a green-hydrogen powerhouse, making and delivering the liquefied gas as well as selling the fuel cells that use it. Walmart’s forklifts currently use fossil fuel-generated hydrogen, like most commercially available hydrogen in the U.S. The two companies have a long relationship. Plug built its business making forklifts that run on fuel cells, and Walmart has used them in its ... Read more ... |
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Net-Zero Holdouts That Stick Out Like a 'Sore Thumb’ - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 13, 2022) |
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Apr 13, 2022 · Still, when one sees companies like Exxon Mobil Corp., one of America’s largest corporate emitters, and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the leading global financier to fossil-fuel companies, proclaiming intentions to dramatically decarbonize, one wonders why all companies aren’t pronouncing a public willingness (regardless of whether they actually mean it) to reduce dangerous greenhouse gases. Last week, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a stark warning that the world’s emissions must peak immediately to have a shot at keeping the temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius—the stretch goal ... Read more ... |
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Your Next Bottle of Vodka Could Be Made From Captured Carbon - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 02, 2022) |
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Apr 02, 2022 · That’s why some startups are turning to what’s known as “carbon capture and utilization” (CCU), where the CO₂ is used to make goods that can be sold to fund the scaling up of their technologies. There’s a potential $1 trillion market in the U.S. alone for products made from captured CO₂ emissions, according to non-governmental organization Carbon180, ranging from plastics and building materials to food and drinks. One replacement product that can really make a difference in the global effort to reach net-zero emissions is aviation fuel, because there’s currently no fossil fuel-free way to make it. Dimensional ... Read more ... |
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Maya Lin on How Art Can Encourage Climate Action - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Apr 01, 2022) |
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Apr 01, 2022 · I wanted to be a zoologist and follow in the footsteps of Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey. But when I got to Yale my adviser was like, “Our animal behavior program is neurologically based, so you’ll have to do vivisections, and I don’t think you’re going to want to do that.” So that’s when I began my career as an architect. And then came the Vietnam memorial and the Women’s Table and the Civil Rights Memorial. But I was still clipping animal extinctions. I thought, “I want my fifth and final memorial to be something that is not a commission, but something I call into being. And I want it to be about animal ... Read more ... |
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New Clean Energy Marketplace Joins Silicon Valley Rush to Green Buildings - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Mar 30, 2022) |
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Mar 30, 2022 · Chief executive officer Kevin Berkemeyer says the startup is like a “Zillow of clean energy.” And he argues that its central marketplace replaces the existing convoluted system for purchasing. “We’re mainly competing with the status quo,” he said. “At the end of the day, the customer’s interests are not well represented in the in the traditional process.” In 2018, Station A spun out as a standalone company from NRG Energy Inc., the oil and gas firm that, like its peers, has invested into Silicon Valley as part of its promised shift to more renewable production. Berkemeyer said the Texas ... Read more ... |
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Kim Stanley Robinson’s Guide to Keeping the Doomsday Glacier Hanging On - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Mar 26, 2022) |
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Mar 26, 2022 · I say this because beaches are by their nature located right at sea level. Waves break on them to make their sand; tides move that sand around. There are a few beaches around the world where sand is so copious that giant dunes have formed, as in Namibia or the California coast north of Santa Barbara. Those might manage. But most form a coastal verge not much higher than the current highest tides. New projections released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the U.S. put minimum sea-level rise at 12 inches within the next 28 years. That number doubles, at least, by the end of this century — and possibly rises to as high as 8 feet. Even the ... Read more ... |
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China Faces Worst Crop Conditions Ever Due to Climate Change - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Mar 23, 2022) |
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Mar 23, 2022 · Tang Renjian, the country’s agriculture minister, brought up the threat at a high-profile government meeting in Beijing this month. “China faces big difficulties in food production because of the unusual floods last autumn,” he told reporters. “Many faming experts and technicians told us that crop conditions this year could be the worst in history.” More than 860 people died or went missing in natural disasters last year, which damaged almost 30 million acres of crops. Record-breaking rains in the central province of Henan in July alone damaged 2.1 million acres of farmland. The floods delayed planting on more than 18 million acres of ... Read more ... |
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Tree Discoveries, Fake Lamb and Other Good News About the Climate - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Mar 23, 2022) |
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Mar 23, 2022 · But this issue of Bloomberg Green has evidence of progress across its pages, and several of those stories are already available to read online. Take, for example, this profile of a reformer trying to remake the industry that sells cheap and often useless carbon offsets. Or this examination of the innovative and inexpensive net-zero playbook being created by India, which has the distinction of being the poorest super-emitter and therefore a model for developing economies looking to cut carbon. There’s also a fascinating story about the French insurance giant Axa, one of the greenest players in finance, that looks at what it means to choose between burning carbon and burning ... Read more ... |
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The World’s Cargo Ships Are Sailing Into Worse Climate Risks: Report - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Mar 14, 2022) |
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Mar 14, 2022 · Typhoon Maemi shut South Korea’s Port of Busan for 91 days in 2003. Cyclone Yasi cost the Port of Brisbane $52 million and 10 days of operation in 2011. Typhoon Lekima closed the Port of Wenzhou, in China, for 45 days in 2019 and cost the Port of Dalian $65 million. Wind speed, rainfall and wave heights are all expected to increase with greenhouse-gas concentrations. Weather was responsible for at least 80 of the 400 vessel loses between 2015 and 2019. Losses killed 142 crew members during that period—33 in 2015, when a Category 4 hurricane felled a cargo ship in the Bahamas. Havoc on land affects shippers, too. Drought in and around the ... Read more ... |
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Easter Island at Risk From Rising Seas, Extreme Weather - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Mar 11, 2022) |
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Mar 11, 2022 · The statues, called moai, stand on platforms called ahu, where human remains were placed. The monument sites are concentrated along the island’s coasts, making them vulnerable to sea-level rise, storm inundation and even tsunamis, which some residents fear more than gradual erosion and flooding. Waves are pulling stones away from the ahu, jeopardizing the safety of a World Heritage site that a UN agency in 1995 called “an artistic and architectural tradition of great power and imagination.” Jane Downes, an archaeologist at Scotland’s University of the Highlands and Islands who’s worked at Rapa Nui sites since 2009, has seen first-hand how the ... Read more ... |
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Climate Responses That Backfire Are a Growing Problem, IPCC Says - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Mar 02, 2022) |
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Mar 02, 2022 · As the inevitability of some climate impacts has grown, adaptation has come to be viewed as desperately necessary. But the report flagged well-intentioned projects gone wrong, such as sea walls meant to protect against rising oceans that make those just beyond their borders more exposed to flooding; irrigation that counteracts drought to keep food growing, but at the same time depletes precious groundwater; and tree planting in ecosystems that were never meant to be forested. All of it was intended to help. “Most often, maladaptation is an unintended consequence,” the report found. Lisa Schipper, an environmental social ... Read more ... |
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Thirty Startling Numbers From the New IPCC Climate Report - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Mar 01, 2022) |
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Mar 01, 2022 · 4 or 5: Multiple by which direct damages from flooding would increase at 4°C of warming, compared to 1.5°C 2.5: Multiple by which urban land exposed to both floods and droughts is projected to increase between 2000 and 2030 15: Multiple by which floods, droughts and storms killed people in poor coastal countries versus rich coastal countries in the last decade 50%: Share of human population that may be exposed to periods of life-threatening climatic conditions arising from coupled impacts of extreme heat and humidity by 2100 in a low-emissions scenario 250: Upper estimate of additional days ... Read more ... |
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Five Key Takeaways From the New IPCC Climate Risk Report - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 28, 2022) |
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Feb 28, 2022 · Released today, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability focuses on the interplay that connects warming-driven impacts such as heat waves and floods to ecosystems and human society. The IPCC scientists determine that some impacts are already “irreversible” and that as many as 3.6 billion people now live in settings that are “highly vulnerable to climate change.” (Read Bloomberg Green’s full story on the latest report here.) The report characterizes adaptation measures so far as halting and insufficient and makes the consequences of inaction wrenchingly clear. The world ... Read more ... |
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AGL Spurned Offer Signals Move From Activism to Acquisition - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 24, 2022) |
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Feb 24, 2022 · Brookfield Asset Management, with nearly $700 billion under management, is perhaps a typical member of the consortium. (According to Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Brookfield is contributing 80% of the money.) Grok Ventures, the family office of Atlassian co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer Mike Cannon-Brookes, is perhaps not. Grok’s rationale for the deal also is not typical: to ensure substantial decarbonizing of the company’s generation portfolio, replacing it with renewable energy on a much faster timeline than AGL has currently outlined. AGL has rejected the bid, which represents a 20% premium to ... Read more ... |
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Extreme Wildfire Impacts to Rise Dramatically by 2100, UN Says - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 23, 2022) |
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Feb 23, 2022 · “This must change,” the report added. “Wildfires need to be placed in the same category of global humanitarian response as major earthquakes and floods.” The report forecast that the risk of cataclysmic wildfires could increase as much as 57% by the end of the century, depending on temperature rise. “Even with the most ambitious efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the planet will still experience a dramatic increase in the frequency ofextreme fire conditions,” it stated. Over the past decade the intensity and impact of wildfires has grown worldwide, with 2020 a particularly devastating year that seemed to ... Read more ... |
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Reindeer Herders Push to Reclaim Land From Norway Wind Farms - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 21, 2022) |
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Feb 21, 2022 · Haugen and her people want the machines torn down, but they still whir. The new government — which has promised to make Norway a leader in respecting Indigenous rights and to foster green industries for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 — says it’s researching solutions. “We did win in the Supreme Court, but as long as nothing is done as the verdict says, we will never be heard,” Haugen, 27, said. “There is no victory. It is quite clear that Norway does not value the Indigenous population very highly.” The case is a bellwether for wind power in this oil-dependent nation, which needs to supplement vast hydropower ... Read more ... |
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China Plans to Feed 80 Million People With 'Seawater Rice’ - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 19, 2022) |
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Feb 19, 2022 · The secret to the bountiful harvest is new salt-tolerant rice strains developed by Chinese scientists in the hope of ensuring food security that’s been threatened by rising sea levels, increasing grain demand and supply chain disruptions. Known as “seawater rice” because it’s grown in salty soil near the sea, the strains were created by over-expressing a gene from selected wild rice that’s more resistant to saline and alkali. Test fields in Tianjin—the municipality that encompasses Jinghai—recorded a yield of 4.6 metric tons per acre last year, higher than the national average for production of standard rice ... Read more ... |
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Storm Eunice Damage in U.K. Could Top £300 Million - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 19, 2022) |
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Feb 19, 2022 · At least four people were killed in the UK and Ireland during one of the worst storms in decades, with a gust of 122mph provisionally recorded at the Needles on the Isle of Wight, which, if verified, would be the highest ever recorded in England. Energy Networks Association (ENA) has said nearly 400,000 homes had no electricity on Friday night, with network providers recording 156,000 disrupted customers for UK Power Networks, 120,000 for Scottish & Southern, 112,000 for Western Power, 6,000 for Northern Power and 260 for Electricity North West. Footage shared online captured planes struggling to land in high winds, damage to the roof of the O2 arena in London, and the ... Read more ... |
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How to Keep Crops Alive In a Warmer, Dryer World - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 16, 2022) |
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Feb 16, 2022 · With global warming unlikely to slow any time soon, California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment (issued in 2019) cited new technology as both a means of mitigation and crop adaptation to persistent water stress. The opportunity hasn’t been lost on inventors—or investors. Startups from Los Angeles to Switzerland have been rolling out products. Deal value in the agricultural technology industry has increased every year over the past decade, almost quadrupling since 2016. Last year, companies in the sector saw $7.8 billion worth of investment. But whether the new tech works as advertised, is affordable and sufficiently scalable ... Read more ... |
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The 20 Animal Species That Could Rewild the World - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 04, 2022) |
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Feb 04, 2022 · That’s because biodiverse ecosystems are both more resilient to climate change and store more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, research has shown. Yet climate change is exacerbating what some scientists call “the sixth great extinction.” The United Nations in 2019 warned that “nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history” with a million species at risk of vanishing. Predators and other large animals are landscape architects, influencing the growth of carbon dioxide-absorbing vegetation. Scientists have documented, for instance, how the return of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 reshaped the ... Read more ... |
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Growing Corporate Presence in Power Markets Will Boost Clean Energy - Bloomberg Climate Adaptation  (Feb 03, 2022) |
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Feb 03, 2022 · Starting around 2010, companies began to do something different: they signed power purchase agreements with large, offsite renewable energy assets connected to the wholesale power grid. These assets were identical to anything built by a utility or independent power producer and they put power into the grid in the same way — companies purchased the output as it flowed into the grid. That market began, as all do, in a small way, with just 100 megawatts or so in 2010. It has since grown. In 2021, corporate procurement of clean energy topped 30 gigawatts. That’s about 10% of the amount of renewable power generation capacity added last year; ... Read more ... |
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