Climate

“There has been an explosion of fossil fuel lobbyists heading to UN talks, with nearly four times more than were granted access last year,” according to a new analysis by a coalition of environmental groups called Kick Big Polluters Out. Lobbyists for coal, oil, and gas got more passes to the conference than the total number of delegates from 10 of the countries most vulnerable to climate change (which includes Somalia, Chad, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Sudan), the Guardian reports.

Demonstrators in inflatable Pikachu costumes showed up at international climate talks in Dubai this weekend to call on Japan to end financing for fossil fuel projects. The photos and video are giving me life this Monday morning.

That includes the US, EU, Brazil, and others that made the pledge during United Nations climate talks taking place in Dubai. Renewables like solar and wind energy are already more affordable than fossil fuels. The bigger question at the international climate talks, though, is whether countries can commit to phasing out coal, oil, and gas to reach goals set in the Paris climate accord.

During a United Nations climate conference, the US joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance. It includes more than 50 other countries that have committed to switch from “unabated coal power generation” to clean energy. But let’s keep it real. The word “unabated” changes everything. It means that power plants can continue to burn coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, as long as they install unproven technologies designed to capture carbon dioxide emissions but not other air pollutants. Such technologies are expected to make electricity more expensive, and have already wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding in failed carbon capture projects. The US recently carved out a similar loop hole for carbon capture in its federal pollution standards for power plants.

The New York Times reported that at the United Nations climate summit, Vice President Kamala Harris said a new final rule put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency will heavily curb energy companies’ methane emissions.

The EPA said in a press release that this rule will mean “a nearly 80 percent reduction” of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

As the Times notes, 50 oil and gas companies pledged similar reductions, though environmental groups are skeptical. In an open letter, 320 organizations signed an open letter criticizing the “voluntary efforts” as a “distraction from the task at hand.”

The US Fusion Energy International Partnership Strategy “will support the timely development, demonstration, and deployment of commercial fusion energy,” the White House announced during a United Nations climate conference going down in Dubai. For decades, scientists have chased breakthroughs in nuclear fusion, seen as the “Holy Grail” of nearly limitless clean energy. Most experts don’t think commercial nuclear fusion power plants can come online in time to meet global climate goals, even under optimistic scenarios. Nevertheless, the Biden administration and Microsoft are supporting startups trying to make fusion a reality.

The plan is to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050. The US joined a coalition of more than 20 countries that set that goal during the United Nations climate conference taking place in Dubai. Never mind the risks across the uranium supply chain or that the US still doesn’t doesn’t know what to do with its nuclear waste, the Biden administration is betting on next-generation nuclear power plants as a source of carbon-free energy.

They join some 12,500 mayors and city governments including Paris, Kolkota, London, Los Angeles, Lima, and Sydney that have endorsed the creation of such a treaty. This latest push comes during a United Nations climate conference in Dubai where delegates are debating a possible deal to phase out fossil fuels.

The Verge science reporter Justine Calma visited the conservationists who are part of a project moving thousands of the reef-building animals out of the sea to climate-controlled labs on land. High temperatures drive off the photosynthetic algae corals rely on for nutrients, causing coral bleaching that can be deadly.

In this video, you’ll also see a gene bank growing a new generation of baby corals, and the 3D photomosaic maps used to track their replanting efforts in the open ocean.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced what it says is the “single largest investment in environmental justice going directly to communities in history.” The money is supposed to benefit “disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution” through projects that deploy clean energy, cut down pollution, and help communities adapt to climate change. Applications for funding, which comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, will be open over the next year.

The feels-like temperature in Rio de Janeiro reached a blistering 138.7 degrees Fahrenheit (59.3 degrees Celsius) over the weekend. Taylor Swift postponed her Saturday show after 1,000 fans fainted from the heat and one person died at her concert on Friday. The brutal conditions have also sparked wildfires and raised the risk of power outages.

The Department of Energy announced funding today for nine different heat pump projects across 15 sites in the US. This is the first round of funds stemming from Joe Biden’s authorization of the use of the Defense Production Act in 2022 to boost domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies including heat pumps. It’s a more environmentally friendly appliance that’s starting to replace traditional heating and air conditioning.

Called GraphCast, Google’s new AI model was able to make 10-day weather forecasts faster and with greater precision than a traditional model. It outperformed the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in 90 percent of test cases. How? Google’s model was trained on historical data and leverages deep-learning hardware to make forecasts more efficiently.

That’s how University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy describes how explosive Hurricane Otis’ growth was right before it slammed into Acapulco, Mexico. It strengthened into a devastating Category 5 hurricane in record time, catching residents and forecasters off guard. The storm killed at least 27 people when it hit Wednesday, and residents are still reeling from what is likely to be one of the costliest storms to hit Mexico. Tropical storms draw strength from heat energy, allowing them to intensify more rapidly with climate change.

The Energy Department announced the ‘largest ever’ investment in the power grid today. That includes funding for microgrids that can protect residents from outages. It’s a solution The Verge wrote about and New Orleans residents have been calling for since Hurricane Ida caused a deadly blackout in 2021. The story was selected for HarperCollins’ The Best American Science and Nature Writing last year, and one of our photos by Avery Leigh White won an American Photography 38 award.