05.23: Latest News and Solutions

Climate News 05.2023: Latest News and Solutions

There has been a lot of climate news in the past two months. In early April an important new report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that we are not doing enough to curb global warming to only 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal set in the Paris Agreement in 2015. The report which was written by hundreds of leading scientists says that despite some efforts to curb emissions, greenhouse gas emissions did, in fact, increase globally from 2010 to 2019 and continue to rise. The IPCC report states that we need to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions globally by the early 2050s or else the world will experience extreme climate chaos. They predict the loss of over one million plant and animal species as well as extreme weather including droughts, floods, and wildfires, and rising oceans if emissions have not peaked and started to decrease by 2025.

But, there is hope.

1. Big companies are rolling out new ideas for electric cars. For example Ford, General Motors, Hundia/Kia, Audi/Porsche/Volkswagen, Nissan, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are all making electric cars. There are also many new small all electric companies starting up. Importantly, electric vehicles made up ten percent of market share last year, a significant global milestone.  

2. Switching to low emission solutions is now more practical. One can now get many home appliances that have a very small or no carbon footprint. There are also new regulations in some cities that require these greener appliances be integrated in new buildings. 

3. There are new ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of industry. More efficient and green production processes are coming online. 

4. Entrepreneurs are finding ways to make going green profitable for investors.

5. There are new innovative solutions for green energy such as floating wind turbines that can be placed up to forty miles offshore where the wind is more powerful and they do not take up valuable real estate on land. There are also progressions in harvesting geothermal energy from the Earth. There have been significant breakthroughs in battery technology.

Although much of this news is not the good type, there is still hope that if we all work together we can hold off a catastrophic future.