More Fixable Than We Thought

Hey Y'all!

Sorry for leaving you hanging last week, especially after the release of the Big Climate Report. But your girls are tired! Mary just moved across the country, and Amy just buried her father (and wrote a beautiful essay about it in case you missed it).  So, we're taking it easy this week too and letting our good friend Kate Marvel do most of the talking for us. She's an actual climate scientist, so Mary sat down with her to discuss the IPCC report and where we go from here. The path is more hopeful than any of us were expecting. We'll be back in full effect next week and, trust us, we have a lot to say!

It’s More Fixable Than We Thought  with Kate Marvel

By Mary Annaïse Heglar

Q: What is the message from this month’s IPCC report to a newcomer to the climate conversation?

A: Basically: “welcome. We need you.” This can has been kicked down the road for so long that there are bad effects already happening and certain things are already locked in. But that does not mean that action does not matter and it does not mean that we cannot partially turn this thing around. So I think the message of the report is complex. You can't procrastinate for as long as we have. But it also says, look, the climate cares about how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere and you can be part of the solution. You can be part of the enormous group of people who are going to need to turn this thing around.

Q: And then what’s the message from this report to those of us who’ve been involved in climate work for a while?

A: So nothing in the report is new, by design. It would be super weird if scientists were surprised by this report because it would be like you weren't paying attention for the last however many years. But I think what is new, not in terms of new science, but in terms of new wording of the report, is it's really, really definite about the human contribution to climate change. Now, that is not a new thing. We have known that humans are causing all of global warming for quite a long time. But this is the first report that has used the word “unequivocal.” Something that I think is reflected in this report that's actually an advance in science is our ability to do rapid attribution. Now we can do very, very, very rapid assessment of how much climate change contributed to a particular event.

Q: So, the morning the report came out, you texted me and told me you actually saw hope in this report. This is probably one of the only instances in which you will allow me to ask you what gives you hope...so...what gives you hope?

A: I will use that word “hope” as a shorthand for optimism. So the report was very, very clear about what would happen theoretically if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow... we could stop warming. If we began to draw them down, to take them out of the atmosphere, we could restore a lot of what was lost—not everything, I want to be really clear about that. But for a long time, we thought that carbon dioxide was forever. And it's true that carbon dioxide is very long lived in the atmosphere. That's why we care about cumulative emissions. But if we stop, we can really control this thing. So that was a theoretical thing that gave me hope. But I also think it's really important. And I think you and I have talked about this before, that it's important to hold two things in your head at the same time. One is obviously how far we have to go, but another is how far we've come.

We used to be on a trajectory for like four or five degrees warming with current trajectory business as usual. We're on track for about three degrees. Warming stated commitments will get us to like two and a half. I want to make it really clear I do not want to live in a world that is three degrees or two and a half degrees. That is not good enough, but it is going in the right direction. We just need to pull it down faster.

Rising Tides, Rising Temperatures

A billion children at ‘extreme risk’ from climate impacts, by Damian Carrington for The Guardian

It Rained at the Summit of Greenland’s Ice Sheet for the First Time Ever Recorded, by Dharna Noor for Earther

Saving the Ozone Layer Also Helped Buy Us Time to Address Climate Change, by Molly Taft for Earther

Western Drought Will Last Into Fall or Longer, by Henry Fountain for the New York Times

Colorado River Water Cuts Usher in the US Water-Shortage Era, by Brian Kahn for Earther

‘This is a very dangerous combination’: New study says wildfire smoke linked to increased covid cases, deaths, by Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post

The Dixie Fire Is Now the Largest Single Wildfire in California History, by Molly Taft for Earther

How climate change worsens extreme weather in your area, in one map, by Benji Jones for Vox

5 Big Takeaways From the New UN Climate Report Gizmodo by Dharna Noor for Earther

In a First, U.S. Declares Shortage on Colorado River, Forcing Water Cuts, by Henry Fountain for The New York Times

The IPCC Warns This Is a Make-or-Break Decade for Humanity by Brian Kahn and Dharna Noor for Earther

IPCC report: How UN climate scientists revolutionized extreme weather attribution By Umair Irfan for Vox

How climate change worsens extreme weather in your area, in one map by Benji Jones for Vox

The best-case climate scenario is going to be extremely hard by Zoya Teirstein for Grist

The Dixie Fire is moving too fast for California’s emergency alert systems by Joseph Winters for Grist

Death toll from floods in northern Turkey reaches 38, by Suzan Fraser for the LA Times

July was Earth's hottest month on record, NOAA says, by Seth Borenstein for the LA Times

UN report places new emphasis on climate tipping points by

Alexandria Herr for Grist

The Latest IPCC Report Is a Catastrophe By Robinson Meyer for the Atlantic

Europe's Hottest-Ever Temperature Was Just Recorded in Italy. Great, by Simon Childs for Vice

What We Must Finally Accept About the Climate Crisis, by Sara Schurmann and Bianca Ferrari for Vice  

Satellite Images Reveal Evia Wildfire Destruction in Greece, by Andrew Couts for Earther

UN climate report: IPCC says humans caused “unequivocal” warming, by Umair Irfan and Rebecca Leber for Vox

Methane: The lesser-known greenhouse gas that's key to solving climate change, by Rebecca leber for Vox

How climate change could shift where tornadoes strike most, by Joshua Carroll for the Washington Post

Wildfires in Algeria Kill More Than 60 People, by Vivian Yee and Massinissa Benlakehal for the New York Times

The other greenhouse gas: UN report sets the record straight on methane, by Nathanael Johnson for Grist

Swedish mountain shrinks by two metres in a year as glacier melts, by Reuters Staff for The Guardian

The Climate Presidency

Biden's Tweets on Climate Change Do Not Match His Actions, by Kate Aronoff for The New Republic

Biden's infrastructure plan may bulldoze environmental justice concerns, advocates worry, by Dino Grandoni and Darryl Fears for the Washington Post

How the Economy Has to Radically Transform to End Fossil Fuels in 20 Years, by Nafeez Ahmed

Is Biden serious about climate? His 2,000 drilling and fracking permits suggest not by Wenonah Hauter for the Guardian

The Infrastructure Bill Is Divorced From the Reality of Climate Change, by Aaron Gordon for Vice

UN climate report raises pressure on Biden to seize a rare moment by Oliver Milman for the Guardian

Joe Manchin’s Lame Reason for Opposing More Infrastructure Spending, by Kate Aronoff for The New Republic  

What’s Good and What’s Dangerous in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, by Joan Walsh for The Nation

Amid Extreme Weather, a Shift Among Republicans on Climate Change, by Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport for the New York Times

The planet is in peril. We’re building Congress’s strongest-ever climate bill, by Bernie Sanders for The Guardian

Climate Accountability

Playing Nice With the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Climate Denial, by Kate Aronoff for The New Republic

IPCC Calls for Major Methane Emissions Reductions for 1st Time by Molly Taft for Earther

Blue Hydrogen Isn't a 'Clean' Energy Source After All by Molly Taft for Earther

Exxon Kicked Out of Climate Group It Helped Form by Molly Taft for Earther

Shell Has to Pay $111 Million for 1970 Oil Spill That Turned Rain Black by Dharna Noor for Earther

The Lawyer Who Beat Chevron Has Been Found Guilty of Criminal Contempt by Dharna Noor for Earther

​​Methane: The lesser-known greenhouse gas that's key to solving climate change by Rebecca Leber by Vox

Playing Nice With the Fossil Fuel Industry Is Climate Denial by Kate Aronoff for The New Republic

The US doles out fossil fuel subsidizes so investors never lose by María Paula Rubiano A. for Grist

The World's on Fire, Yet Australia Keeps Pumping Out the Gas, by Royce Kurmelovs for Vice

Coverage of the “Code Red” Climate Report Was Good. Here’s How to Sustain It, by Andrew McCormick for The Nation

PG&E power line suspected in Dixie fire was set to be buried underground in safety move, by Alex Wigglesworth for the LA Times

The IPCC Understated the Need to Cut Emissions From Methane and Other Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, Climate Experts Say, by Phil McKenna for Inside Climate News  

For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts, by Hiroko Tabuchi for the New York Times

Lauren Boebert Forgot to Disclose Her Husband’s Nearly $1 Million in Gas Consulting Contracts, by Molly Taft for Earther

Stop the east African oil pipeline now, by Bill McKibben, Diana Nabiruma and Omar Elmawi for The Guardian

Justice is Justice is Justice

Parenting in the Age of Climate Change by Aaron Regunberg for The New Republic

The UN report is scaring people. But what if fear isn't enough? by Kate Yoder for Grist

Hidden Toll of the Northwest Heat Wave: Hundreds of Extra Deaths by Nadja Popovich and Winston Choi-Schagrin for the New York Times

Climate Change Is a ‘Hammer Hitting Us on the Head,’ Developing Nations Say By Lisa Friedman, Hiroko Tabuchi and Winston Choi-Schagrin for the New York Times

California Wine Country Towns Are Banning New Gas Stations, by Audrey Carleton

Glimmers of Hope

California Solar Panel Mandate for New Buildings Advances By Ivan Penn for the New York Times

Court Blocks a Vast Alaskan Drilling Project, Citing Climate Dangers, by Coral Davenport for The New York Times

The IPCC’s latest climate report is dire. But it also included some prospects for hope by Rebecca Solnit for The Guardian

Yes, the climate crisis is terrifying. But I refuse to abandon hope by Arwa Mahdawi for the Guardian

It's Too Soon to Admit Climate Defeat, by Georgia Wright for YR Media  

In Philadelphia, Mass Transit Officials Hope Redesigning Bus Routes Will Boost Post-Pandemic Ridership, by Daelin Brown for Inside Climate News

IPCC's climate change report doesn't mean humanity is doomed, by Sarah Kaplan for The Washington Post

Good news: The media is getting the facts right on climate change, by Kate Yoder for Grist

Chlorpyrifos Will No Longer Be Allowed on Food Crops, by Coral Davenport for The New York Times

Laser Fusion Experiment Unleashes an Energetic Burst of Optimism, by Kenneth Chang for The New York Times

Climate in Culture

The IPCC Should Get Better at Climate Propaganda, by Liza Featherstone for The New Republic

If children are to live with the climate crisis, we must green the curriculum, by Merlyn Batchelder

Why Climate Deniers Invoke Arson as Cause of Wildfires So Often, by Molly Taft for Earther

Parenting in the Age of Climate Change, by Aaron Regunberg  

Why These Environmental Activists Look Like Marvel Characters, by Bopha Phorn for Vice

Study of Earth's Deep Past Reveals Terrifying Global Warming Warning, by Becky Ferreira for Vice

11 novels that focus on climate change, by Brenda Haas for DW

At MoMA, Love of Cars Can Be Exhausting, by Jason Farago for the New York Times

Climate Change at Two California Vineyards, by Eric Asimov for the New York Times

The Long, Slow Drowning of the New Jersey Shore, by Andrew S. Lewis for the New York Times

Your Daily Coffee Habit Is About to Get More Expensive, by Coral Murphy Marcos  

2020 US Census Shows Americans Are Moving to the Wrong Places, by David Sirota and Julia Rock for Earther

Whatever, Voice of Reason, by Tom Tomorrow for The Nation

Porgy: Sustainable, Cheap and Delicious on the Grill, by Florence Fabricant for New York Times Cooking

Plus More

Offshore turbines could be a windfall for the US steel industry by Emily Pontecorvo for Grist

For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts.

By Hiroko Tabuchi for the New York Times

Coverage of the “Code Red” Climate Report Was Good. Here’s How to Sustain It. By Andrew McCormick for The Nation

‘Code red for humanity’: what the papers say about the IPCC report on the climate crisis by Helen Sullivan for the Guardian

Scientists Traced a Wooly Mammoth's Lifetime Journey, and It's Astonishing, by Becky Ferreira for Vice

IPCC report: How UN climate scientists revolutionized extreme weather attribution, by Umair Irfan for Vox  

Why some animals are shrinking, by Christophe Haubursin for Vox

Dixie Fire evacuees share what they packed to flee Greenville, by Marlena Sloss and Marisa Iati for the Washington Post

Hermit crabs may be ‘excited’ by plastic pollution in ocean, researchers say, by Jennifer Hassan for the Washington Post

The US public schools redesigning buildings with climate in mind, by Maya Yang for The Guardian

How to Decode Hurricane Season Terms, by Karen Zraik and Christina Caron

How Superweeds Like Palmer Amaranth Are Changing Agriculture, by H. Claire Brown