Hey climate heroes! Welcome to The Climate Roundup, where we round up the change, er the news about climate and the environment. As part of the Gen E community, we thank you for making climate action part of everyday life. (Reading this newsletter counts!)
In Pop Culture:
Two comedians competed on Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune for environmental charities this week. Tig Notaro was there in support of the World Resources Institute, and Nikki Glaser played for the Ocean Conservancy. Comedian Thomas Lennon played for Dogs Without Borders, but we’re not telling you about that because this is a CLIMATE newsletter. Wait… Shoot, I guess we actually did tell you about that.
GETTING DOWN TO CLIMATE BUSINESS:
🍲️ Climate activists in the UK made a savory splash by throwing tomato soup on a Van Gogh painting to draw attention to in the National Gallery. Don’t panic – the painting was behind glass and was never at risk of significant damage. The real danger was handling tomato soup while wearing white.
🖥️ Humans aren’t the only ones facing the consequences of climate change – our machine overlords are, too. Science reported on the difficulties of managing a high-performance computing (HPC) facility as temperatures increase. HPCs require a ton of energy not just for themselves, but also for their cooling systems. To make matters worse, climate change can also increase humidity, which reduces the effectiveness of evaporative cooling that many HPC centers use. Some facilities are even relocating to colder climates, such as Canada and Finland, but that’s prohibitively expensive and logistically difficult for many companies and their employees. Making things even harder – you can’t get good Mexican food in Finland.
🏥 One healthcare facility in Hollister, CA is now operating almost entirely on solar power, after its chief executive saw the chaos caused to Puerto Rico hospitals during Hurricane Maria. She returned to America and ensured her clinic could operate energy independently in the event of extreme weather, and now, it has “the ability to rely entirely on sun-fueled energy for a week, thanks to a $1.7m self-contained micro-grid of solar panels and batteries.” This is a great example of climate adaptation that also contributes to climate mitigation. Even in an emergency, this hospital will still be able to power its ventilators, its dialysis machines, and the Playstation the doctors keep in the break room.
🎖️ The Biden administration announced their National Security Strategy, and climate features prominently. Natural disasters and drought will trigger mass migrations, which causes political instability (see: Syria). and climate change threatens military operations and American energy supplies. It also makes some digs at China’s climate policies and coal use. So I guess it’s guarding against some threats while creating others.
🚰 The Biden administration also plans to pay cities, farmers, and Native American tribes for large voluntary cuts to water usage amid the worsening water shortage in the Colorado River. Ugh, great. Just after I bought a bunch of stock in water parks.
🟢 Climate change is having huge impacts on Greenland’s way of life. One group in particular is suffering: sled dogs, who are finding themselves without jobs. Look, if it will help, they can come live with me. I’ll let ’em pull me around on a skateboard.
SOME STATS:
4%: A WARM ATMOSPHERE CAN HOLD THIS MUCH MORE WATER, WHICH ALSO SUPPORTS MORE INTENSE RAINFALL (WAPO)
8.8ft: MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATER LEVELS ARE THIS FAR BELOW WHAT IS CONSIDERED “LOW STAGE,” CAUSING BARGES TO RUN AGROUND (ACCUWEATHER)
I Believe The Children Are Our Future
BuzzFeed interviewed a bunch of Gen Z activists about climate moves that matter. They touch on everything from how to join local organizations to thrifting alternatives (not shopping at all).
Thanks for reading! – Nicole
