Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #25
Today, we talk about EU fossil fuel emissions hitting a 60 year low, US govt freezing licenses for LNG export, 2023 being the warmest year EVER, EV woes in Chicago's winter and India's dry winter!
Welcome to the first (and much delayed) edition of 2024. Hope you’ve had a good start to the year. Now let’s look at some climate stories from the past month. We will look at:
3 stormy stories that should be a cause for alarm
2 sunny stories that give us hope that all is not yet lost!
Sunny news
EU fossil fuel emission hits 60 year low; back to 1960’s level
Fossil emissions ‘finally back to 1960s levels’, say analysts, but they warn levels are still falling too slowly
Source: EU fossil fuel CO2 emissions hit 60-year low (Guardian) The fossil fuel emissions dropped 8% between 2022 and 2023
More than half of the drop in emissions came from the use of cleaner electricity
In sectors such as industry, high gas prices have led some firms to become more efficient and others to make fewer goods
“EU CO2 emissions have finally fallen back to levels apparent in my parents’ generation in the 1960s,” said Isaac Levi, an analyst at Crea. “Yet, over this time period, the economy has tripled – showing that climate change can be combated without foregoing economic growth.”
While this an achievement to be celebrated, experts believe more needs to be done.
EU’s own climate advisers said “the pace of reductions needs to increase considerably” if the bloc was to achieve its 2030 target. The 27 member states need to cut emissions about twice as fast as they have done on average over the last 17 years
Sources for further reading:
US government pauses licenses for LNG export
The Biden government has paused LNG export approvals after pressure from climate activists
The Department of Energy (DOE) will conduct a review during the pause that will look at the economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking approval to export LNG to Europe and Asia where the fuel is in hot demand.
Why is this significant?
US was the world’s top LNG exporter last year
This move could affect the energy security of Europe (that has increasingly depended on US gas to reduce its dependence on Russia) and Asia (that is using US gas to reduce its use of coal)
Why is this a good thing?
The US LNG export volumes have tripled between 2018 to present.
New LNG projects:
Can harm local communities with pollution
Lock in global reliance on fossil fuels for decades (once a plant has been built, it will need to operate for a number of years to recover the investment of setting it up)
Lead to emissions from burning gas and from leaks of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.
Source to read further:
Stormy news
It’s official: 2023 was the world’s warmest year on record so far and by a record setting margin!
A world map plotted with color blocks depicting percentiles of global average land and ocean temperatures for the full year 2023. Color blocks depict increasing warmth, from dark blue (record-coldest area) to dark red (record-warmest area) and spanning areas in between that were "much cooler than average" through "much warmer than average." (Image credit: NOAA NCEI) The UN weather agency (WMO) confirmed earlier this month that 2023 officially smashed the global temperature record and average global temperature was fast approaching the critical threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels
Every month between June and December set new monthly records
July and August were the two hottest months ever recorded
Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one and the past nine years have been the warmest on record.
2023 was not just the warmest year, but it also beats the next warmest year, 2016, by a record-setting margin of 0.27 deg F (0.15 deg C).
Looking ahead, there is a 33% chance that 2024 will be warmer than 2023, and a 99% chance that 2024 will rank among the top five warmest years.
2023 not only broke temperature records, but also saw several other significant climate anomalies
Global ocean heat content set a new record high
Polar sea ice was scant: The 2023 annual Antarctic sea ice extent (coverage) averaged 3.79 million square miles in 2023, the lowest on record.
For further reading:
US Electric car owners faced a new challenge in the Arctic blast
What happened?
Electric vehicle drivers reported trouble charging their cars as an Arctic blast swept much of the U.S.
Why did this happen?
Charging take longer in freezing temperatures
Tesla driver Brandon Welbourne told CBS News Chicago that a charge that should take 45 minutes was taking two hours.
Range is reduced - While all cars are less efficient in the cold, electric vehicles are impacted more because the energy it takes to both power the vehicle and warm the cabin lowers its driving range
A Recurrent analysis of 18 popular EV models found that, on average, their range dropped to around 70% in freezing conditions.
What can EV owners do?
Tesla and ZETA released a tips sheet for driving EVs in the winter.
These include: warming up the car, using car seat heaters and heated steering wheels in stead of heating the whole car, charging the car when charge is more than 20% and leaving the car plugged whenever possible.
Why is this a problem?
It is creating doubts in minds of EV owners about the ease of using EVs and will likely deter at least some future buyers
Uber drivers are concerned that the economics of driving an E.V. for a ride-sharing service may not work in Chicago winters.
So does this mean EVs can’t be used in cold places?!
No! That’s not true at all. Some of the countries with the highest usage of electric vehicles are also among the coldest. In Norway, where nearly one in four vehicles is electric, drivers are accustomed to taking steps, such as preheating the car ahead of a drive, to increase efficiency even in cold weather.
Charging stations in Norway see longer lines in the winter than summer, since vehicles are slower to charge in colder weather, but that has become less of an issue in recent years since Norway has built more charging ports.
“We’re just a few years into E.V. deployment at scale,” Mr. Al Gore said. “This is not a categorical problem for electric vehicles,” he added, “because it has largely been sorted out in other places.”
Sources for further reading:
Dry winter in India; Himalayan peaks and plains look bare with hardly any snowfall; May lead to ripple effects
Absence of snow in Gulmarg. Normally blanketed in snow at this time, Gulmarg, known for skiing, currently stands bare, affecting tourism. Photo by Mudassir Kuloo (Mongabay) Across the northwest Himalayas, this has been an unusually dry winter with almost no snowfall.
High mountain passes barely have any snow, skiers hoping to slalom down white slopes have been disappointed and tourists are calling off trips to hill destinations
The vast valley of Lahaul-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh is almost snowless this January.
Via social media on 9 January, Omar Abdullah said: “I’ve never seen Gulmarg so dry in the winter … If we don’t get snow soon the summer is going to be miserable.”
J&K’s dry and warm winter:
Jammu and Kashmir experienced a rainfall deficit of 79%, recording 12.6 mm rainfall in December 2023, much below the average of 59.6 mm, as per the official data from the India Meteorological Department.
The dry spell has continued in January, which is considered the coldest month when the valley normally receives maximum snowfall.
The region has also been experiencing temperatures 6-8°C above the winter average.
What are potential long term effects?
The prolonged dry spell has negatively impacted crucial water sources, particularly the Jhelum river and its streams. Substantial decreases in water levels in surface sources have been noted.
Insufficient water is impacting irrigation for agriculture and horticulture in the region, particularly orchard fields in Kashmir.
Absence of rain or snowfall would also elevate pollutant levels in the Kashmir Valley and pose health risks. Dry weather also increases the risk of forest fires.
The absence of snow has also impacted winter tourism in the region, particularly in Gulmarg and Pahalgam.
Why is this happening?
This is mostly being attributed to El Nino that brings a period of warming. Previous El Nino years (2015, 2018) have also seen dry spells.
Longer term trend in Western Disturbances: The snowfall in this region in winters is mostly caused by the WD (Western Disturbances) - that carry moisture from the Mediterranean to Pakistan and the Himalayas. However, both the intensity and frequency of western disturbances are decreasing.
Climate models suggest a further decrease of about 10-15% in the frequency of WDs by 2050 or so.
Sources for further reading:
