North America – Page 7 – Desdemona Despair

August 5, 2023

Texans die from heat after GOP Governor bans mandatory water breaks – “Houston will fight so its residents retain their constitutional rights and have immediate local recourse to government”

By Steven Monacelli 6 July 2023 (Texas Observer) – As a part of a bill critics have dubbed the “Death Star” bill—an expansive law that preempts legislation in eight key areas of local government—the Legislature has overridden local ordinances that require giving workers water breaks. Otherwise known as House Bill 2127, it was signed into […]

Center for Industrial Progress President Alex Epstein speaks at a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing in March 2023. Photo: Francis Chung / POLITICO

July 31, 2023

“It’s called summer”: U.S. Republicans brush off record 2023 heat wave – “Thank God for air conditioning”

By Chris D’Angelo and Igor Bobic 28 July 2023 (Huffington Post) – Unless you’ve been living underground or have a vested interest in turning a blind eye to reality, you know that climate change has sent temperatures soaring to dangerous levels around the planet this summer. Two global climate organizations on Thursday confirmed that July […]

Map showing how dozens of U.S. states shifted infrastructure law climate funds to other projects. Data: Federal Highway Administration/Kansas Department of Transportation. Graphic: Ian Duncan / The Washington Post

July 31, 2023

U.S. states siphoned away $750 million in infrastructure law climate funds – “It’s an absolute failure that this is allowed to happen”

By Ian Duncan 27 July 2023 (The Washington Post) – With $14 billion in new federal funding, the infrastructure law was supposed to jolt efforts to protect the U.S. highway network from a changing climate and curb carbon emissions that are warming the planet. New records show the effort is off to an unsteady start […]

This photo provided by the University of Miami Coral Reef Futures Lab, shows bleaching to elkhorn coral on Thursday, 20 July 2023, in the North Dry Rocks Reef off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. Some Florida Keys corals are losing their color weeks earlier in the summer than has been documented before, meaning they are under stress and their health is potentially endangered, federal scientists said. Photo: Liv Williamson / University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science / AP

July 31, 2023

Florida’s record hot ocean temperatures cause early coral bleaching – Some reefs in the Florida Keys have already lost all their color – “We are at least a month ahead of time, if not two months”

By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder 26 July 2023 (US News & World Report) – Record high ocean temperatures around the Florida Keys are driving coral reefs to lose their color weeks earlier than usual in the latest sign that climate change and El Niño are pushing the world into uncharted territory. On Monday, a buoy in the […]

Primary energy global consumption (left) and share of global primary energy by source (right), 2000-2022. Primary energy demand growth slowed in 2022, increasing by 1.1 percent, compared to 5.5 percent in 2021, and taking it to around 3 percent above the 2019 pre-COVID level. Consumption increased in all regions apart from Europe (-3.8 percent) and CIS (-5.8 percent). Renewables’ (excluding hydro) share of primary energy consumption reached 7.5 percent, an increase of nearly 1 percent over the previous year. Fossil fuel consumption as a percentage of primary energy remained steady at 82 percent. Graphic: Energy Institute

July 24, 2023

World energy system struggled in face of geopolitical and environmental crises in 2022 – Coal production reached record high – CO2 emissions reached record level – “We are still heading in the opposite direction to that required by the Paris Agreement”

26 June 2023 (EI) – The Energy Institute (EI) and partners KPMG and Kearney today released the 72nd annual edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy, presenting for the first time full global energy data for 2022. Five key themes emerge from the data EI President Juliet Davenport OBE HonFEI said: “The EI Statistical Review […]

Map showing the American GFS model forecast for the heat dome covering the U.S., 29 July 2023. Graphic: WeatherBell

July 23, 2023

More records will fall as brutal heat wave continues across southern U.S. – “Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities”

By Matthew Cappucci 21 July 2023 (The Washington Post) – For more than a month, a blistering heat wave has baked much of the Lower 48, reaching from the Pacific to the Atlantic and bringing triple digit temperatures to nearly 70 million Americans. The parent “heat dome” is going nowhere anytime soon and will push the entire continental United […]

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

July 23, 2023

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 […]

KCCI-TV chief meteorologist Chris Gloninger stands outside his home, Tuesday, 27 June 2023, in West Des Moines, Iowa. Gloninger announced that he was leaving the Des Moines station due to threats he received for his coverage of climate change on air. Photo: AP Photo / Charlie Neibergall

July 23, 2023

Iowa TV meteorologist hounded off the air over climate-change reporting – “I started just connecting the dots”

By Hannah Fingerhut, Heather Hollingsworth, and Summer Ballentine 7 July 2023 DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The harassment started to intensify as TV meteorologist Chris Gloninger did more reporting on climate change during local newscasts — outraged emails and even a threat to show up at his house. Gloninger said he had been recruited, in […]

A ghost forest develops atop the Catlett Islands along the north shore of Virginia’s York River. Photo: M. Kirwan / VIMS

July 23, 2023

Ghost forests: coastal forests dying off as sea-level rise accelerates

By Ginger Zee, Daniel Manzo, and Kelly Livingston 6 July 2023 (ABC News) – As people around the world contend this week with the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth, more visual evidence of climate change is emerging with the spread of ghost forests. The globe is naturally warming and seas naturally rise, but greenhouse […]

The California State Capitol in Sacramento. Photo: Rschlie / Getty Images

July 23, 2023

Oil and gas lobbying threatens California’s game-changing climate bills – Legislation aims to shine a light on corporate climate pollution and carbon offsets – “Delay is the new denial”

By Aaron Cantú 26 June 2023 (Capital & Main) – Two transparency bills in the California Legislature would require corporations to disclose more information about their emissions and their efforts to fight the climate crisis. The oil and gas industry is spending millions to kill them. The bills would force big companies that do business in California to […]