emergence of extreme weather as climate warms now unequivocal, California’s “big melt” has begun, Biden Administration air-pollution rules will boost EVs, emissions of private jets and superyachts, changing climate story from despair to opportunity

A new study confirms with satellite data what has been predicted by physicists and computer models for decades. Our warming climate has fueled more intense drought and heavier rainfall globally over the last 20 years, which is indisputable evidence that the carbon we’ve emitted is exacerbating extreme weather. While there was much confidence in the model projections, “This is an observation,” one of the study’s co-authors told The Washington Post, “It’s actual data.”

The Washington Post describes how climate change is driving up the price of homes throughout much of the American west. Fires and flooding both damage the existing housing stock and limit where new housing can be constructed. “The median price of a home in Sonoma County, where Santa Rosa is the seat of government, has risen by more than 25 percent since the Tubbs Fire, according to recent monthly sales figures. That increase was even more precipitous before recent interest-rate hikes cooled the market.”

This problem is exacerbated by our construction of millions of homes in places that were known to be vulnerable to fires or floods. This is causing a forced migration due to climate change. Over 3 million Americans have lost their homes in recent years, and many will never be able to return. An excellent op-ed in The Guardian notes that “the total number of displaced will swell by millions and tens of millions, forcing Americans from the most vulnerable parts of the country into an unpredictable, quasi-permanent exile from the places they know and love…”

scientists continue to call for stronger action on greenhouse gases, needed new transmission capacity hard to build, we’re clearly in the midst of an EV boom, communities dealing with sea level rise and flooding, an anesthesiologist takes climate action

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a new report, and the New York Times explains it is another in a long line of dire warnings for humanity. As we have heard before, without an immediate shift away from fossil fuels, global average temperatures will exceed the 1.5°C target in “the first half of the 2030s.” The report also notes that worst-case climate scenarios considered in the past, such as a 4°C increase in global average temperature, now look unlikely, as at least 18 countries (including the United States) have managed to reduce their emissions for more than a decade. At the same time, even relatively modest increases in global temperature are now expected to be more disruptive than previously thought. “The pace and scale of what has been done so far and current plans are insufficient to tackle climate change,” said Hoesung Lee, the chair of the climate panel. “We are walking when we should be sprinting.”

CNN reports on the growing likelihood of El Niño conditions developing in the Pacific in the coming months, which will have a profound impact on global weather. In particular, higher global average temperatures are normally associated with El Niño conditions, and 2024 could turn out to be the hottest year on record. Already, ocean temperatures are very high compared to past measurements, increasing the possibility of major coral-reef-bleaching events and accelerated ice loss in Antarctica.

The Washington Post notes the recent finding from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that “global emissions of carbon dioxide related to energy production grew by 0.9 percent in 2022, reaching a new high.” While the growth was slower than expected, the IEA said that “emissions still remain on an unsustainable growth trajectory.” Both China’s zero-Covid policy and the war in Ukraine contributed to the reduction in the rate of emissions increases last year, but increased use of coal as natural-gas prices rose was an offsetting factor…