‘Under Paris’, Too Hot To Handle, EU Nature Win, and More!

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!)

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In Pop Culture:

The latest hit on Netflix is Under Paris, a Don’t Look Up meets Sharknado political satire that’s got everything. Mutant sharks as metaphors for climate change. A Paris mayor dead set on not canceling an international triathlon in the Seine, despite the river being infested with human-hungry sharks. This plot is a metaphor for the upcoming Paris Olympics and Mayor Hidalgo’s quest to get the Seine safe for swimming (not there yet!). It may also aim to shine a light on the increasing risk of dangerously hot temperatures during summer months in places where Olympics are held, and how unlikely it is that events will be canceled, putting athletes at risk. Also notable in the film, all of the idiotic dialogue from threat-deniers in the movie are direct quotes from politicians, changed for context and applied to sharks vs climate change. Sounds fantastic.

Getting down to climate business:

🥵 It’s dangerously hot for too long in certain parts of the world, including the U.S. This heatrisk map created by the National Weather Service and NOAA can help people understand the heat risk in their area and how to react.

🔥 Extreme heat and wildfire smoke are currently not considered ‘major disasters’ in the eyes of our federal government, which means states cannot get FEMA funding to help manage the resulting dangerous conditions with things like cooling centers and air filters. But a coalition of groups are petitioning to change that, since heat causes more deaths each year than all other major disasters combined.

💪 The American Climate Corps kicked off last week with 9,000 soon-to-be trained workers who will begin “restoring landscapes, building out renewable-energy infrastructure, and advancing other projects that will push the nation toward its climate goals.”

🌺 Climate activists won a settlement in Hawaii that will legally force the state to fully decarbonize transportation by 2045. The plaintiffs claimed “the state’s pro-fossil fuel transportation policies violate their state constitutional rights. By prioritizing projects like highway expansion instead of efforts to electrify transit and promote walking and biking, the complaint says, the state created “untenable levels of greenhouse gas emissions”.

🌱 The EU approved what’s called the Nature Restoration Bill which requires all member states to restore 20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030. It’s the least they could do.

📦 Amazon says by the end of the year in North America, it will have replaced all of its plastic puffy shipping pillows with recycled paper, eliminating 15 billion plastic pillows annually. That paper better actually be recycled…

🏭 Fossil fuel emissions from energy reached a record high in 2023, as overall energy use increased 2%. Fossil fuel’s share of the energy mix in 1995 was 86%; 28 years later it’s at 81.5%. That’s a drawdown pace that is: Not. Good. Enough.

Summer Workouts?

I noted in the pop culture story how extreme heat has become a cause of concern during the Summer Olympics. But it’s not just Olympic athletes who have to weigh the risk of winning vs living, it’s professional sports athletes, outdoor workers, and everyday people just trying to get outside to exercise. I think MLB players (and fans) in particular will be feeling the bunt of this new normal, as most of their long season is played in direct sunlight during the hottest months of the year…in pants!

This piece in The Atlantic discusses how summer used to be all about getting outside for physical activity, up to 20% more than other times of the year. But now, higher temperatures, especially when mixed with higher humidity, are causing a decline in outdoor activity across leisure sports, camps, and good old-fashioned summer fun in the neighborhood. The article goes into the science of how our bodies handle heat, how we might adapt, and the flipside risks of being too cautious by avoiding exercising outdoors altogether. It’s complicated.