Prevalence of undernourishment (left axis) Number of undernourished (right axis), 2005-2023. After rising sharply from 2019 to 2021, the proportion of the world population facing hunger persisted at virtually the same level for three consecutive years, with the latest estimates indicating a global PoU of 9.1 percent in 2023. In terms of population, between about 713 and 757 million people (8.9 and 9.4 percent of the global population, respectively) were estimated to be undernourished in 2023. Considering the mid-range estimate (733 million), about 152 million more people may have faced hunger in 2023 compared to 2019. Graphic: FAO

Hunger numbers stubbornly high for three consecutive years as global crises deepen: UN report – The world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009 – 1 in 11 people worldwide faced hunger in 2023, 1 in 5 in Africa

30 September 2024 (World Bank) – Domestic food price inflation remains high in many low- and middle-income countries. Inflation higher than 5 percent is experienced in 77.3 percent of low-income countries (18.2 percentage points higher since the last Update on June 27, 2024), 54.3 percent of lower-middle-income countries (8.7 percentage points lower), 44% of upper-middle-income […]

Myanmar’s rare earth mining industry has become the world’s largest supply, yet the mines’ toxic by-products are poisoning nearby waterways, wildlife, and communities. Photo: Global Witness

Transition minerals: A climate solution that could cost the earth – “We need a just, fair, and equitable transition from fossil fuels to renewables”

10 July 2024 (Global Witness) – Renewable energy is often hailed as a panacea for the energy crisis. But without better consultation and regulation, plans to expand mining for minerals central to the energy transition could be disastrous for people and the planet. To tackle the climate crisis, we need to transition away from fossil […]

The Utility Disconnections Dashboard shows the number and rate of disconnections by utility in each U.S. state. Indiana has the highest disconnection rate. Places with particularly high disconnection rates include Alabama, where the city of Dothan’s municipal utility has disconnected an average of 5 percent of its customers, and Florida, where the city of Tallahassee has a disconnection rate of more than 4 percent. Large investor-owned utilities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Indiana also top the charts in disconnections, with average rates near 1 percent. Graphic: Energy Justice Lab / CC BY-ND

America faces a power disconnection crisis amid rising heat: In 31 states, utilities can shut off electricity for nonpayment in a heat wave –

By Sanya Carley and David Konisky 5 July 2024 (The Conversation) – Millions of Americans have been sweltering through heat waves in recent weeks, and U.S. forecasters warn of a hot summer ahead. Globally, 2023 saw the warmest June on record, according to the European Union’s climate change service. That heat continued into July, with some of […]

Map showing hottest 5-day period for maximum daytime temperatures (left) and maximum nighttime temperatures (right) in Mexico for 3 June 2024 - 9 June 2024. The thick black contour shows the study region. Black crosses show the locations where impacts or temperature records have been reported. Data: ERA5. Graphic: World Weather Attribution

Climate change made killer heat wave in Mexico, Southwest U.S. even warmer and 35 times more likely – “The changes we have seen in the last 20 years, which feels like just yesterday, are so strong”

By Seth Borenstein 20 June 2024 WASHINGTON (AP) – Human-caused climate change dialed up the thermostat and turbocharged the odds of this month’s killer heat that has been baking the Southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America, a new flash study found. Sizzling daytime temperatures that triggered cases of heat stroke in parts of the United States were […]

A man sits on a bench during a heatwave in New Orleans on Tuesday, 8 August 2023. Photo: David Grunfeld / The Times-Picayune / NOLA.com

“It’s unbearable”: in ever-hotter US cities, air conditioning is no longer enough – “The types of cooling systems that we sold 10 years ago are not able to keep up with the weather we have”

By Delaney Nolan 11 Jun 2024 (The Guardian) – Gloria Gellot, 79, takes a careful seat in a kitchen chair in front of her only air-conditioning unit, massaging her knees. She’s hung a sheet in the doorway to keep the cool air in the kitchen, and drawn shades to keep the sun – already blazing […]

A man stands near his home looking at a street he says has been flooded for months, on Thursday, 7 December 2023, in Prichard, Alabama. Water bubbles up in streets, pooling in neighborhoods for weeks or months. Homes burn to the ground if firefighters can’t draw enough water from hydrants. Utility crews struggle to fix broken pipes while water flows through shut-off valves that don’t work. Photo: Brynn Anderson / AP Photo

Trillions of gallons leak from aging drinking water systems, further stressing shrinking U.S. cities – “It’s a huge problem because infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating”

By Tammy Webber 4 March 2024 PRICHARD, Alabama (AP) – Water bubbles up in streets, pooling in neighborhoods for weeks or months. Homes burn to the ground if firefighters can’t draw enough water from hydrants. Utility crews struggle to fix broken pipes while water flows through shut-off valves that don’t work. For generations, the water […]

Maps showing daily temperature variation (DTV, a) and population density in the world (b). Graphic: Liu and Smith-Greenaway, 2024 / PNAS Nexus

Study finds Black and Hispanic Americans are disproportionately exposed to wider temperature swings

22 May 2024 (PNAS Nexus) – Extreme heat can harm human health, but so can extreme temperature swings. Large daily temperature variation (DTV) has been associated with elevated mortality in studies around the world. Trees and other vegetation can lower DTV, as trees reduce temperature through transpiration during the day and also trap long-wave radiation […]

Responses of 380 climate experts to the question, “How high above pre-industrial levels do you think average global temperature will rise between now and 2100? Almost 80 percent of the respondents, all from the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), foresee at least 2.5°C of global heating, while almost half anticipate at least 3°C (5.4°F). Only 6 percent thought the internationally agreed 1.5°C (2.7°F) limit would be met. Graphic: The Guardian

World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target – “I could not feel greater despair over the future”

By Damian Carrington 8 May 2024 (The Guardian) – Hundreds of the world’s leading climate scientists expect global temperatures to rise to at least 2.5C (4.5F) above preindustrial levels this century, blasting past internationally agreed targets and causing catastrophic consequences for humanity and the planet, an exclusive Guardian survey has revealed. Almost 80% of the […]

Spatial distribution of the total number of exposed days in 995 California ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) from 2006 to 2019 under the main analysis definition for climate hazards (85th percentile for extreme heat and 15 μg/m3 for wildfire PM2.5). (A) Compound exposure, (B) extreme heat alone, and (C) wildfire smoke alone. Gray color represents excluded ZCTA that has a population of ≤1000 or lacks any exposed day (extreme heat alone, wildfire smoke alone, or both). Graphic: Chen, et al., 2024 / Science Advances

Extreme heat, wildfire smoke harm low-income and nonwhite communities the most – “It’s really important to highlight this social injustice aspect of climate change”

By Dorany Pineda 2 February 2024 LOS ANGELES (AP) – Extreme heat and wildfire smoke are independently harmful to the human body, but together their impact on cardiovascular and respiratory systems is more dangerous and affects some communities more than others. A study published Friday in the journal Science Advances said climate change is increasing the frequency […]

Age-standardized mortality trends in the United States and other wealthy nations. Figure shows deaths per 100,000 person-years: A) 1933–2021 and B) 1980–2021. The solid thick red line is the United States, the dashed thick grey line is the population-weighted average of 21 other wealthy nations, and the thin grey lines are country-specific trends for each of the other nations. Total mortality was age-standardized to the 2000 US population age distribution. Graphic: Bor, et al., 2023 / PNAS Nexus

More than one million Americans “missing” as U.S. endures crisis of early death – “Americans die younger than their counterparts elsewhere because when corporate profits conflict with health, our politicians side with the corporations”

By Tessa Koumoundouros 20 July 2023 (ScienceAlert) – If the United States of America had the same mortality rates as other wealthy countries, more than 1 million people would have avoided death in 2021, a new study found. Researchers have termed these excess deaths the Missing Americans. “The number of Missing Americans in recent years is unprecedented […]

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