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:
Bill Nye’s new series The End Is Nye premieres this Thursday on Peacock!. If you need more Nye, he did this interview to promote the series, where he talks about climate change, ghosts, and more.
GETTING DOWN TO CLIMATE BUSINESS:
💰 With the official passing of the Inflation Reduction Act, you might be saying, “Sure, saving the climate is great and all, but what’s in it for me?” Well, the IRA can save you money in all kinds of ways. It will help you buy an electric car, install solar panels or a heat pump, and re-insulate your home. Just think of all the extra money you’ll have to invest, OR spend on a a Six Flags Season Pass. Choose wisely.
🌲 You already knew that animals are migrating due to climate change, but now, trees are, too. Rising temperatures are causing boreal forests to move further north into rapidly-warming Arctic regions. Finally, we’ll get a battle for the ages: Treebeard vs. Santa Claus.
🌊️ Normally, California’s problem is too little water, but it seems like too much is going to be an issue, too. According to a new study, “Despite the recent prevalence of severe drought, California faces a broadly underappreciated risk of severe floods.” Atmospheric changes caused by global warming increases the likelihood of severe flooding. Historically, California has had “100-year-floods,” but now conditions are primed for those floods to happen every 50 years or more frequently. I guess we should probably change the name. Although it’d probably be even better to keep calling them 100-year-floods and work on fixing climate change, instead.
🎲 Researchers from the University of Waterloo have developed an interactive game to teach kids about climate change in a new way. The game asks players to assess threats from climate events and “make thoughtful choices about dealing with climate change challenges across rural (agriculture), urban (cities, heat), and coastal areas (flooding, effects from storm surges).” It’s kind of like the game Life, but in this case, our Life is at Risk, and we need to Mastermind a solution, or we’ll be in big Trouble.
️📺 Good news! National TV networks have gotten better at linking extreme weather events to climate change. The bad news? Right now, they’re not mentioning solutions, such as the IRA, voting for climate-focused candidates and policies, or adaptation strategies. Connecting these strategies clearly to extreme weather events will help bolster popular support for climate action, and reporters should find a way to transition from extreme weather to solutions. Speaking of transitions…
🇫🇷 France’s Loire valley is suffering what experts believe is its worst drought on record, and the rest of Europe isn’t far behind. Rivers have dried up, and now, like California, heavy rainfall will lead to flooding, as the parched ground can’t absorb all that water. Well, at least it’s not happening in a part of the world whose economy is based on growing wine grapes that are particularly finicky about their growing conditions. Now to just take a big swig of Sauvignon Blanc and take a peek at the back of the bottle…
SOME STATS:
53%: THE GRIES GLACIER’S SNOW QUANTITY IS THIS FAR BELOW AVERAGE. (WAPO)
45%: THE PERCENTAGE OF DATA CENTERS HAVE EXPERIENCED AN EXTREME WEATHER DISRUPTION. (WIRED)
A SCOTUS Throwback
With all the excitement about the IRA, we kind of brushed past that one extremely consequential Supreme Court decision on climate. If you’d like to learn more about West Virginia vs. EPA, this new Climate Town video breaks it down nicely. And I’m not just saying that because I wrote it! 😉
Thanks for reading! – Nicole
