Sunny climate, stormy climate | Weekly Digest #36
The new Starbucks CEO's office commute will be 1600 miles in a private jet, the Amazon is seeing its worst forest fire seasons in 20 years and there is a surprising new Tiktok trend!
Hello folks! Here’s your weekly dose of climate updates where I bring to you 3 climate stories, 1 climate action and 1 climate content reco!
Before we begin, I have a request. I am looking for some spirited individuals to help with me with 2 very fun projects for ‘Sunny climate stormy climate’
A visual designer/ illustrator
Someone who can build a simple webpage (possibly no code)
If you or someone you know could be a good fit and is passionate about climate messaging, please reach out!
⛈️ Stormy news ⛈️
1. Starbucks’ new CEO to fly 1600 miles to go to office daily
What is happening?
Starbucks appointed a new CEO a couple of weeks back - Brian Niccol
Niccol lives in California, while the Starbucks HQ is in Seattle. Niccol will not be relocating from California but will abide by the company’s policy of working 3 days in office.
He will be using the company jet for his commute (1600 miles ) according to his employment contract that was made public in an SEC filing last week.
This has sparked a lot of backlash online with internet users pointing out the massive GHG emissions from flying and the hypocrisy of the CEO doing this when the coffee chain claims to be sustainable by shifting to paper straws!
Starbucks doesn’t appear to have issued a comment on this yet
Why does this matter?
Aviation is a major contributor to GHG emissions and is one of the most difficult to abate sectors. It has not been easy to find sustainable alternatives to aviation fuel or electrify planes.
When talking about flying itself, private jets are at least 10X more polluting in terms of CO2 emissions/ person than commercial planes and 50 times more polluting than trains!
Sources for further reading
Starbucks CEO is under fire for plan to commute to office by private jet (CBS news)
In 2022, private jet operations had reached a new high on 5.3 mn flights a year (News digest Issues #3)
2. Amazon rainforest seeing its worst wildfire season in 20 years
What are we talking about?
In the first 7 months of 2024, the Amazon rainforest saw the highest number of fires in 20 years.
Just July say more than 11,500 hotspots of fire, almost 2X the 5,700 hotspots seen in July 2023
It is estimated that a staggering 7.4 million acres of Brazil’s Amazon burned in the first half of 2024. This is despite the decrease in deforestation that Brazil has recorded since President Lula came to power in Jan 2023.
Are the fires linked to climate change?
The fires may be started by humans as well as naturally, but they are spreading faster and becoming larger due to the dry climate as a result of the ongoing drought.
The region is facing one of its worst droughts in decades. The air in the Amazon is typically very moist - "flying rivers " of moisture - but the drought has made this air very dry and easily ignitable.
Why does this matter?
The Amazon rainforest is often called the ‘lungs of the earth’. It is a great carbon sink and helps in balancing the net carbon emissions globally
Forest fires like these are accelerating the destruction of the Amazon and pose the risk of a climate tipping point.
Additionally, these fires are massive and cause smoke that engulfs nearby cities affecting the air quality. That’s what is currently happening in the city of Porto Velho in Brazil, putting the health of the 500,000 residents at risk due to poor air quality.
Sources for further reading
What can ‘I’ do? 😎
This is a new section that will bring to you a simple action you can do as a step towards leading a more sustainable life
Make an eco-friendly Ganesha!
If you celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi (coming up on 7th September), here’s an appeal to consider an eco-friendly alternative for the idol and the immersion.
For the ones who may not know about Ganesh Chaturthi, it is a festival in honour of Ganpati (the elephant God). A lot of people bring home an idol of Ganpati, worship it and then immerse it in a nearby waterbody.
How does this harm the environment?
Traditionally the idols were made of mud or clay and immersed in nearby rivers or lakes where they would become part of the river/ lake bed. Then the idols started to be made of plaster of paris (easier to make, look better, can be colored and decorated) and they wouldn’t dissolve easily, polluting the water bodies. The idols also started becoming larger.
What can you do?
Chose to make an eco-friendly idol at home from natural materials like clay or rice flour! See this article from Better India.
There are also some eco-friendly alternatives available to buy idols.
You can choose to immerse the idol in a tub of water at home in stead of taking this to a river or lake!
🌞 Sunny news 🌞
3. The latest Gen Z trend on Tiktok: ‘Underconsumption core’
What are we talking about?
Social media sites like Tiktok have a new trend every week, but the latest rather unusual trend is ‘Underconsumption core’
‘Underconsumption core’ is a trendy word for a concept that is not new- bring frugal.
This trend talks using what you have, repurposing things, using things for longer, mending old clothes and only buying what you need.
This is a refreshing contrast to the general stream of influencers showing off their latest shopping haul or a new fashion trend or talking about how they have coffee only from a certain kind of cup! With this trends influencers are actually saying, “Look how much I didn’t spend!”
Why does this matter?
The human race has been consuming more and more, and over the last century or so our consumption has grown exponentially
For example: An average American buys 53 items of clothing every year, a 4X increase from 2020 and throw 65% of the clothes within 12 months of purchase (Read more)
Everything that we buy has an impact on the environment at both ends -
When it is manufactured - it needs raw material that may be a natural resource (like wood or cotton), or fossil fuel based (like plastic) and need water and electricity in the manufacturing process.
When it is thrown away - At least 80% of the stuff that we throw away in a dustbin ends up in a landfill. Things in a landfill are mostly incinerated and are a major contributor to carbon emissions.
At the current rate of consumption, the earth will not just be able to sustain us. ‘Earth overshoot day’ is the day each year where our consumption of resources exceeds what the Earth can cope with. This year Earth overshoot day was marked on August 1.
We need to reverse the culture of overconsumption and trends like this could go be a great way to start!
Sources for further reading
Sailee’s climate picks
This is a new section where I’ll bring to you 1 piece of climate content I’d like to recommend that could be books, article, podcasts, movies etc.
In the spirit of the last news story, this week’s recommendation is an old favourite. This is a great 30 minute set where Hasan Minhaj breaks down fast fashion’s impact on climate change :
In case you missed, a piece I wrote last week: How the humble toilet is fighting climate change
You can read previous editions of the newsletter -
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #35
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #34
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #33
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