Key takeaways from climate change articles

Time is rapidly running out to prevent exceeding 1.5°C of human-caused global warming since the preindustrial era—a critical threshold stated in the #parisagreement Most pathways that aim to keep warming below 1.5°C now involve a temporary "overshoot," where temperatures exceed this limit before being brought back down through #carbondioxide removal from the atmosphere (IPCC) However, a new study published in Nature reveals significant uncertainties and risks associated with this approach, notably: ▶️ Even pathways designed to limit warming to 1.5°C carry a notable risk of exceeding 2°C due to climate system uncertainties. ▶️ To reverse a temporary overshoot, we may need to remove hundreds of billions of tonnes of CO₂ by 2100—a scale that challenges our current technological and economic capacities. ▶️ Overshooting 1.5°C, even temporarily, can lead to irreversible consequences such as accelerated sea-level rise and loss of ecosystems, aligning with warnings from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The study suggests adopting "peak and decline" strategies that focus on rapid emissions reductions to minimize peak warming and developing sustainable CO₂ removal methods to reduce temperatures over time. What Can We Do? ✅ Immediate and substantial cuts in #greenhousegasemissions are essential. ✅ Scaling up CO₂ Removal Technologies can help hedge against higher-than-expected warming. ✅ Governments, businesses, and organizations must work together to implement sustainable solutions. This research underscores the urgency of proactive measures. Relying on future technological fixes for carbon removal is not enough; we must act now to reduce emissions and prevent irreversible damage to our planet. Read the article here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eXn-yC4j

After contentious discussions at #COP29, developed countries pledged to contribute at least $300 billion annually to help developing countries tackle the #climatecrisis. A drop in the ocean compared to the needs and to the ever-increasing cost of weather, water and climate disasters. The price of #ClimateAction may seem high. But the price of inaction is much higher. This is highlighted by a Carbon Brief article which I am #nowreading, called "Mapped: How climate change affects extreme weather around the world." In the past, climate scientists were reluctant to pinpoint the role of human-induced climate change in individual extreme weather events. But that has now changed thanks to big advances in the science of attribution. Attribution studies calculate whether, and by how much, #climatechange affected the intensity, frequency or impact of extremes – from #heatwaves, to #drought, record-breaking #rainfall and rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones. Carbon Brief looked at more than 600 studies, covering almost 750 extreme weather events and trends, and produced an interactive map. Across all these cases, 74% were made more likely or severe because of climate change. This includes multiple cases where scientists found that an extreme was virtually impossible without human influence on global temperatures. Details: https://lnkd.in/dZTsgT-n These findings echo the excellent work of climate scientists and experts from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services who are part of the World Weather Attribution network. The recent report on “10 years of rapidly disentangling drivers of extreme weather disasters” was clear in its conclusion. “Our work, alongside the wider scientific literature, now shows that with every ton of coal, oil and gas burned, all heatwaves get hotter, and the overwhelming majority of heavy rainfall events, droughts, and tropical cyclones get more intense,” it said. https://lnkd.in/d-prYhvU

🌍 What happens when climate change pushes markets to their breaking point? A recent article from Bloomberg Green (https://lnkd.in/etT7taZt) offers a stark reminder of how climate change is reshaping essential industries, starting with insurance. 1️⃣ Major insurers are pulling back: In states like Florida and California, insurers are retreating from high-risk areas, leaving homeowners scrambling for coverage as hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters intensify. 2️⃣ Non-admitted insurers are stepping in: These lightly regulated companies provide a safety net but come with steep trade-offs—higher premiums, fewer consumer protections, and financial instability. 3️⃣ Climate change is the driver: With extreme weather escalating, some regions are now viewed as “uninsurable,” forcing homeowners into costly alternatives. 4️⃣ Fragility in the system: Non-admitted insurers, while filling a gap, often rely on reinsurance and lack financial resilience, raising concerns about their ability to weather large-scale disasters. 5️⃣ The bigger picture: This trend is exposing the cracks in how markets respond to climate risks. As these pressures grow, the availability of affordable, reliable coverage hangs in the balance. This story isn’t just about insurance—it’s a warning. When the physical impacts of climate change materialize, they reveal just how fragile many of our systems truly are. Markets—built on assumptions of stability—can rapidly destabilize or collapse entirely under the weight of disruption. Insurance is just the tip of the iceberg. Consider housing markets in flood-prone areas, where soaring insurance costs or insurer pullbacks render properties unsellable. Imagine agricultural markets in drought-stricken regions, struggling to distribute food as yields plummet. Or think of global supply chains, reliant on consistent weather and functioning infrastructure. The domino effect of one failing system can cascade into others, amplifying these shocks. And yet, we are not powerless. What if we designed markets to anticipate, rather than react to, disruptions? Public-private partnerships could share risks across critical systems. Investing in climate adaptation—strengthening infrastructure, redesigning urban spaces, and incentivizing resilience—might reduce strain before disaster strikes. We must stop viewing market failure as an isolated problem and start treating it as a shared challenge. When one market buckles, its ripple effects can touch every sector, every community. 🚨 What other markets do you think are at risk of collapse in the face of climate change? And how can we prepare for these challenges before it’s too late? #ClimateChange #Insurance #Resilience #MarketCollapse

To tackle climate change, we need big solutions, and we need big solutions fast. Oftentimes, these solutions will come in surprising packages. One of my favorite examples is our work in contrails – you know contrails, those little fluffy white clouds behind planes? Surprisingly, according to the IPCC, they make up roughly 35% of aviation’s global warming impact. The great news is that contrails are relatively easy to avoid because they only form in cold and humid regions of the sky – so pilots can adjust their altitude to avoid them, just like they do for turbulence. Since Google announced our work with American Airlines and Breakthrough Energy, where we used AI to help American Airlines pilots reduce contrails by over half, it’s been amazing to see how the sustainability conversation in the aviation industry has shifted, thanks in large part to the dedication of Jill Blickstein, Dinesh Sanekommu, and Marc Shapiro. Contrail avoidance is now recognized in the aviation industry as another (much nearer term!) solution alongside needed innovations in electric planes, hydrogen planes, and biofuels. Our team recently released a paper with more details on our work with American Airlines. Here are key takeaways: 𝟭. 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (seen in satellite imagery!): Flights that adjusted their routes based on our AI-based contrail predictions showed a 54% reduction in contrail kilometers, when compared in satellite imagery with control flights that didn't have access to AI predictions. 𝟮. 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Pilots made relatively small adjustments to their ascent or descent profiles to avoid contrail-forming regions, demonstrating a practical approach that integrates into existing flight operations. One of my favorite memories is that after flying American's first flight to avoid contrails, Captain John P. Dudley remarked that it was easy to avoid them, our predictions looked right based on all the contrails he saw in the sky, and best of all - he even came up with a new approach to contrail avoidance that we informally named after him  😊 𝟯. 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗼𝗳𝗳: The study found a slight increase in fuel consumption per adjusted flight (around 2%). The great news is that only a small fraction of flights create contrails, so this likely scales to 0.3% additional fuel when scaled across an airline's fleet. 𝟰. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀: The approach we used to predict contrail formation utilized both AI from Google and physics-based simulation (thank you Breakthrough Energy!). Link to paper: https://lnkd.in/gxKHXCps What excites me most about this research is its ability to scale near-term. We still have important research to do, and we’ll share more about that in coming months - but compared to other climate solutions, contrail avoidance has the ability to scale in a matter of years, not decades. We need more solutions like this to meet the climate challenge.

It’s official: 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded, so hot that Earth passed a significant threshold — 1.5⁰C. Scientists warn we should try to limit warming to 1.5⁰ to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Here’s why every degree of warming matters: 🟢 Some places feel it more than others — for example, in polar regions, where ice can melt faster. 🟢 Temperature rise can lead to irreversible changes in our ecosystems by disrupting animal habitats and species. 🟢 As conditions get hotter and drier, wildfires like the ones in Los Angeles are becoming more common and more devastating. The good news is that a future above 1.5⁰C is not inevitable. 🟢 In 2023, clean energy jobs in the United States grew by 4.2%, over twice the overall job growth rate. 🟢 A 2024 study from London Stock Exchange Group showed the green economy is growing significantly faster than the broader market and is now the 4th largest sector in the world. 🟢 The renewable energy sector is growing rapidly, especially in China, and is expected to surpass coal in 2025. If we continue to adopt green technologies and innovations, we can limit global warming even as we help people access opportunity. That’s what The Rockefeller Foundation is focused on — and we hope you’ll join us. https://lnkd.in/dM4AWAtx