This weekly round-up brings you key climate news from the past seven days, including concerning new data on ocean conservation and a new study connecting climate change to last month’s deadly floods in Nepal.
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1. Just 2.8% of the World’s Ocean Is ‘Effectively’ Protected Despite 2030 Conservation Target, Report Warns Ahead of UN Biodiversity Conference
Less than two years after governments pledged to step up conservation of the ocean by decade’s end, a new report has found that a mere 2.8% is “effectively” protected.
In December 2022, more than 190 countries adopted the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to safeguard global biodiversity, which has been dwindling at an alarming rate. One of the most notable takeaways of the framework is the 30×30 goal, which requires at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas “effectively conserved” or otherwise restored from degraded states by 2030. With 23 elaborate goals to be achieved by 2030, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) states that this biodiversity framework aims to “halt and reverse nature loss.”
But new data, compiled by a consortium of nature funders and environmental NGOs, reveals that only 2.8% of the world’s ocean are likely protected “effectively,” with governments significantly off track to meet their 2030 target. Only 8% of the world’s ocean is currently designated as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), zones where a government has placed limits on human activity in a bid to protect marine habitats and species for the good of the ocean, society, economy and culture.
Read more here.
2. Trump Initially Denied Disaster Aid Requests From Blue States: Reports
Mark Harvey, Trump’s former senior director for resilience policy, told E&E News that Trump initially refused to approve disaster aid in 2018 after deadly wildfires devastates California, historically a democratic-leaning state. The then-president only agreed after Harvey showed him that some heavily damaged counties had numerous Republican supporters.
According to E&E News, Trump’s disaster aid approval was heavily politicized in two other occasions: Hurricane Maria, which killed more than 3,000 people across Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands in 2017 and Hurricane Michael, which caused massive damage in Florida – a red state – a year later.
Olivia Troye, former Trump White House homeland security adviser, confirmed Harvey’s comments, adding that the Trump, who is running for office again in November’s election, is very likely to policitize future disasters.
The Trump campaign has criticized the Biden administration for its response to Hurricane Helene and Milton, which together claimed more than 250 lives and caused billions of dollars in damages in southeastern US. Trump has also repeatedly made false claims about the federal response in recent days.
Read more here.
3. Climate Change and Rapid Urbanization Key Drivers of Deadly Nepal Floods, Analysis Shows
Human-made climate change made the heavy rainfall that battered Nepal last month more intense and more likely, new research shows. The three-day event led to flash floods, landslides, and riverine flooding that killed 244 people and brought parts of the country, including the capital Kathmandu, to a standstill.
Rain records were broken across central and eastern Nepal, with some 25 weather stations in at least 14 other districts recording more than 320mm of rainfall on September 28, the equivalent of about half of London’s total annual rainfall and the highest recorded in Nepal in the past 54 years. The country began its current system of measuring and recording rainfall in 1970.
A rapid attribution analysis conducted by a group of leading scientists concluded that such a rainfall event is approximately 70% likelier to occur in today’s climate, which is 1.3C warmer than pre-industrial times.
Human-made climate change is also making downpours more intense. An analysis of weather data and climate models revealed that last month’s rain was made 10% heavier by climate change.
Read more here.
4. Google Turns to Nuclear to Power Energy-Hungry Data Centers
Google has ordered the construction of multiple small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to power its energy-hungry data centers and global operations, the “world’s first” deal in which a tech company is commissioning the building of a nuclear power plant.
Kairos Power, the California-based start-up tasked with building the reactors, is expected to bring its first commercial reactor online by 2030 and develop more through 2035, Google said on Monday.
The deal, which is subject to regulatory permits, will generate up to 500 MW of new carbon-free energy, which Google will use to power its rapidly expanding data centers. Whether the new electricity will be added to the grid or used to power data centers directly remains unclear.
Google’s emissions grew by 13% last year compared to 2022, primarily due to AI’s growing energy demand, the company said in its annual environmental report released in July.
Read more here.
5. ‘You Should Be Shaken Too’: US Meteorologist Fighting Back Tears Over Hurricane Milton Says ‘Very Little’ Has Been Done to Stop Climate Change
A US meteorologist who went viral after choking up on air while discussing Hurricane Milton’s intensity said he is frustrated at the inaction over climate change.
John Morales, who has been talking about climate change on air for more than two decades, was filmed fighting back tears as he described the speed at which the storm intensified. Milton formed in the Gulf of Mexico and intensified into a Category 5 hurricane in the course of only two days.
“[The] normal rate of rapid intensification is a 35 mile per hour increase in wind speeds in a span of 24 hours. Here, that was more than doubled,” explained Morales. “Extreme rapid intensification starts at 58 miles per hour every 24 hours. But here we saw 92 miles per hour in 24 hours.”
“I have been talking about this for 20 plus years, trying to alert people of what was coming, trying to advocate for climate action. Nothing—or very little, has been done. Let’s say very little. Very little has been done to mitigate what’s causing global warming, and therefore, here we are,” said Morales.
Read more here.
6. Climate Change Distress Running High Among US Youth Across the Political Spectrum, Survey Finds
Researchers evaluated responses from 15,793 individuals aged 16-25 from all 50 states and Washington, DC. The survey, published Thursday in The Lancet Planetary Health, assessed climate-related emotions and thoughts in relation to what and who is responsible for climate change and who should respond to it; desired and planned actions in response to climate change; and emotions and thoughts about the US government response to climate change.
85% of respondents said they are at least moderately worried, and 57.9% very or extremely worried, about climate change and its impacts on people and the planet. 42.8% said climate change is impacting their mental health, while 38.3% indicated that their feelings about climate change negatively affect their daily life.
Distress is running high across the political spectrum, the results suggest. Among those saying they are worried about the impact of climate change on people and the planet, 96% identify as Democrats, 86% as independent or other, and 74% as Republican.
Climate emotions, however, reflect in the way young people are likely to vote.
Read more here.
